There seems to be no end in sight to tech layoffs. There are guys I work with who are currently in panic mode because they're just a few years shy of retirement and they're petrified of possibly having to start somewhere else anew so late in the game. When will this stop? Will the whole year be like this? Or even longer?
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Just mind boggling in our weekly staff meetings, there are 5 folks asking for work status. A VP, a senior Director, a Director, 2 mid managers. But Only 2 engineers doing the heavy lifting, the real work!!
While I don't doubt that there are 5 people asking for work status and only two people doing the work, I sincerely doubt that a Director or senior Director, let alone a VP are attending a weekly staff meeting w/ engineering individual contributors and mid-level managers.
Don't you know that mid-level managers have weekly staff meetings with their peons, then have weekly staff meetings with their Directors who have weekly staff meetings with their senior Directors who have weekly staff meetings with the VP who has weekly staff meetings with the SVP. Then, once the info has been pushed up that mountain, the brown stinky stuff rolls back down hill to tell us everything is our #1 priority.
There's no way that the "leadership" is going to let the peons listen to them discussing prioritization. Cisco runs on meetings. Why have 1 meeting when you can have a half-dozen?
@dld+1kJw5OFq what do you want? A biscuit?
Just mind boggling in our weekly staff meetings, there are 5 folks asking for work status. A VP, a senior Director, a Director, 2 mid managers. But Only 2 engineers doing the heavy lifting, the real work!!
The way it looks right now, this down trend will likely last longer. But, there is an emerging school of thought that are saying that things should improve after June 2023. Sounds optimistic, but who knows?!
However, from Cisco context, there is no uptrend unless:
- They get rid of the management fat that contributes nothing to revenue generation: layers of Sr. Directors, Directors, Sr. Managers, Managers, PSS, BSA etc. etc. Especially in sales in Geos of US and UK. Way too manager heavy for a company that is not doing nearly as much business as it pretends to be doing.
- Start to actually invest in next generation technology. This will mean coming out of their comfort zone and actually invest in innovative research; but if they are not able to do that, then they are done. They'll get sold for scrap in another 5-6 years. Examples: Nortel, VMware.
- Investing in R&D will mean more Opex but that should easily come from those millions in bonuses, RSUs and salaries of those in point 1 above. They are useless politicians surviving as parasites on the back of hard work of the minions who get pittance for their efforts.
Remember: 70% of the enterprises across the globe and 50% of SPs still use Cisco gears. The market there is ours to take back. The ELT just needs to get their head out or their ar-e, bite the bullet and make some decisions that are unpopular among their hordes of worthless directors and managers. Its a tech company, its the engineers that get the work done, not the managers.
Once the fat is gone, and the R&D investment is aligned, a lean and trim Cisco, in a new fighting shape, should be in prime condition to take over the world title once more within another couple of years. May sound like a pipe dream with a limp, impotent ELT in charge but one can always hope.
If you worked in tech and are close to retirement i can only think you have buffering in place. If not… Welkom to the down trend which will likely last some years and is erratic in nature
If you stay at Cisco past your 30's then you are either rolling the dice or lazy
Welcome to a down cycle. It happens. Hopefully you prepared well in all the TONS of good cycle we've had. Could last a while.