It's hard to imagine but it's happening. Folks are crossing their fingers, hoping to be on the layoff list. That’s how bad it is at Cisco. The atmosphere is so toxic that sticking around feels worse than being cut loose. People are seeing getting laid off as a way out instead of a setback. If that doesn't scream "time to fix this mess," I don’t know what does.
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I'm not DEI but i will happily take a severance
Well, with the end of DEI for federal contractors, there are probably several thousand people in Cisco that need to be retroactively never hired.
If you’re still employed it’s a great time to shop around.
I left after the last reward season. Weak merit increase, weak RSU refresh, and just got tired of the DEI promotions. Ended up making a lateral move to a new company but the potentials way higher and none of layoff culture. LR would have been nice to get the free money but take the opportunities you get.
It's easier to find a job when you have a job. You'll get low balled by recruiters
I was LRd last September and was so relieved. Cisco is full of toxic (micro) managers at the top who pride themselves on pushing the “family” narrative and then turn their heads in blatant disregard. always a lay-off looming with a consistent February, September cadence.
How to survive with working just 2 hours a day?
I’ll race you for your pink slip.
I'm hopeful that I am included on the LR list. I've been showing my worth by doing bare minimum for too darn long already. I'm exactly the type of employee that should be LR'd. If they don't get me this time, I'm quitting anyway. For once in my life, however, I am using the company for my own gains instead of vice versa.
Work hard, build up a team, make the company money, then get dumped on a dying team while some bureaucrat gets put in charge of a once successful team. Hate to break it to you, but that's been happening for at least 2 years now.
They're "managing out" a lot of capable managers and tech leads by taking leaders from successful projects and swapping them out with inept clowns or personal friends of the execs. Then they base performance reviews on the current state of the ailing team with no historical context. This is the worst I've seen things in 9 years. FY26 will see a lot more batches of 49 or less people let go from individual sites to circumvent WARN notices, and basically cut severance in half (or worse). That and the new "unlimited" PTO, coupled with "hiring in lower cost regions", it is now about 65% cheaper to get rid of USA staff. Job market is still tight, but not dead. A lot of companies are hiring. I've gotten interview requests from Arista, Zscaler, MSFT, Alphabet, etc. Making my exit when the mid-year refresher vests.
Finding it difficult to survive till they lay me off. Work is good, but hate the management. Is it me alone feeling like this?
It is a toxic company with incompetence at the top. That makes it a hunger game down the chain
Serious question--why not just leave on your own? I left last year (I went to a partner), and I'm WAY happier and less stressed. I didn't even realize how toxic and insane Cisco was until I finally put the company in my rearview mirror.
More jobs are coming, no one trusts ELT. It’s a great time to start looking for better opportunities.
If it is that bad just walk. Why put yourself thru this mental torture?
Post from TheLayoff.com
Can see it happening across regions. Layoff is a last resort. They are making things difficult beyond measure for everyone with more work and useless trainings. Its a method designed to get rid of people of their own free will. Saves them time and money if someone leaves on their own instead of having to lay them off. Directors/VPs can show these people left we saved money.
On the other side PIP requires alot of work. Managers are overworked. And dont have the bandwidth to PIP people. They are becoming harassers of this terrible policy and pushing people out. The activity we see on this website is a testament to how bad things have become.
Unless leadership is changed, from snake oil salesmen to real engineering leadership that makes a robust product set, expect to see more nonsense.
Start looking around if you havent already been doing that. The market is bad but you need to get out of this place for your own sanity.
While individual contributions are finding ways to cope with Cisco, the messed up company, the directors are being trained for how to find ways to exploit employees weaknesses for easy exit… whether by firing if possible or through other increasingly expensive means like putting on PIP or LR as last resort. Absolutely crazy and demeaning but is happening and no one can do anything but wait and see. Comment if you’re seeing this in your own team.
This is so well said!!
Oh gawd... sad, but there was never a more true statement. Got the pink slip in September and have never looked back.
there is a right way and a wrong way to approach a company like Cisco
the wrong way is to get angry, rant, create conflict
the right way is to be happy and take back from them what they took from you
smile and work two hours a day