Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

I'm over 60 and a long timer. My time is coming and I now hope for it but I'm betting no ER offers will come in the next 3 years. I wouldn't think twice now.

I was LR’d from Cisco in 2019 after 20+ years. There was a decent package and - after a couple of months - I took a Director role with a great partner. I wasn’t looking to leave Cisco and definitely had the stages of anger, confusion to work through - but I am really happy being with a partner that can work with many manufacturers, really help customers beyond a single portfolio and not be involved with the massive egos and career aspirations of so many of Cisco’s leaders. Life balance, relationships and professional happiness is much better now - there is life and opportunities beyond Cisco but people may have to think differently about what success looks like. Cisco was an amazing chapter of life, many great people and experiences but I’m glad the chapter is over and have moved on to something better. Everything changes - the Cisco I was part of is done - happy to be in a different place.

over 50 , dye your hair, keep quiet , try to keep off video, dont say much , kiss you know what and hope no one sees your blinking light in your hand ( logans run ref , if over 50 yu get it ) , maybe just maybe they will look past you, and yeah dont be a id--t like all the gen z who sell their ESPP for the stupid 15% gain, kept all of mine and hope to hit 500k soon , su-kers.

This strikes too close to home for my comfort. :-)

I'm over 50, and I'm lucky to not have grey hair yet so I don't need to dye it yet. But my size and age wrinkles give me away. I keep fairly quiet and I never use video.

I loved the Logan's Run lifeclock reference. Mine is now black and well past blinking.

Do you really think Cisco's stock is going to keep going up beyond $50? Long enough for you to vest it into a qualifying disposition at the time of sale? I've kept all my < $20/share shares, but I've been selling all the shares that are purchased above $30 and taking my $20/share profits. I'd rather have a guaranteed profit of $20-25/share profit now and pay W2 income taxes on it now than hope Cisco makes it to $75 or $100 in 2 yrs. The way Cisco has gone up and down and usually down, I'll keep the cheap shares for the dividend profit they generate and I can always sell them at a good profit once Cisco drops into the $30's or just flat out keep on keeping them for the dividends. The whole thing about stocks is to buy cheap and sell high and right now, our ESPP purchases are at increasingly higher prices w/ little history to prove that they'll keep increasing in price. Everyone here says how Cisco is dying and the ELT is just getting rich while the company coasts and becomes irrelevant. So why hold onto the newer ESPP shares?

Wokey Wokey Hokey Pokey

If you are an older male Cisco worker based in CA your best bet is to strap on a set of double dogs and change your pronouns to she/it.

I've fixed enough of your broken code to know this shouldn't help you. I"m still wondering how most of you ever got hired.

Cisco has ways to avoid "legal" age discrimination. Yes, it happens all the time! Cisco focuses on working the legal system instead of treating us right. It happened to me! They flood you with paperworks and legal papers to sign, and if you have questions, you can't get answers, just the run-around. Fran is unreachable and above talking to employees. She's too important for that unless there is a photo op to pretend she cares!

over 50 , dye your hair, keep quiet , try to keep off video, dont say much , kiss you know what and hope no one sees your blinking light in your hand ( logans run ref , if over 50 yu get it ) , maybe just maybe they will look past you, and yeah dont be a id--t like all the gen z who sell their ESPP for the stupid 15% gain, kept all of mine and hope to hit 500k soon , su-kers.

Maybe lobby your local politicians to tax companies that outsource too many jobs? Or tax companies that utilize h1b employees instead of hiring unemployed Americans?

When we put tariffs on certain Japanese vehicles the US automakers responded not by making better product but by raising their prices so people kept buying the better Japanese cars for what became the same higher price.

When we put emissions requirements on cars the US automakers said it couldn't be done and yet Honda bought a US car, put their CVCC system on it and showed dramatic improvements when GM said it was a system that would only work on toy sized motors.

Our ports are run by foreign companies not because they aren't profitable, but because they aren't profitable enough for US companies to bother.

We make tainted baby food in the US forcing us to have to do emergency buys from around the world because no one bothered to clean the gunk building up in the production lines over ages.

While I'm not in the "protectionism is always wrong" camp I'm having a hard time seeing this as the long pole in the tent for the non-competitiveness of the US in so many areas.

The American dream of having a home w/ a white picket fence to live in when retired is gone.

Except for a very few places, that’s not true, the vast majority of US housing is cheap. On the other hand, places like UK, Australia and especially Canada, it’s very true.

Is that a defect or a feature? Seems like the pyramid is working pretty well for corporations... profitability has never been better.

Overall, it's a defect. But It depends on where you are. If you're rich and a major shareholder, then the profitability is great. That's a small # of people. For anyone else, it's a defect. As more and more seniors are unable to work and not yet eligible for retirement/medicare, then they end up on welfare and homeless and become a burden on society and taxes have to go up to deal w/ the growing #'s of people on welfare and homeless. And as companies keep trying to lower their average age of employees, that situation will only get worse.

"And the corporate world has the same problem that the military has. It's built on a pyramid where each level of promotion results in fewer and fewer people/roles"

Is that a defect or a feature? Seems like the pyramid is working pretty well for corporations... profitability has never been better.

"Too senior" means too expensive salary-wise. They're looking for cheaper 'talent'

You age is too senior......

I'm 50 and was LR'd this round in August as a contractor.

If you were a contractor, you were not LR'd. You just were not renewed. Contractors are not employees and do not get severance packages.

The corporate world doesn't want experienced individual contributors. 50+ needs to be managing people or a Director.

And the corporate world has the same problem that the military has. It's built on a pyramid where each level of promotion results in fewer and fewer people/roles until you get to the very top where there's only one person/role of CEO. As people get older and get promoted, there are fewer and fewer opportunities, but at least in a corporation, you don't get forced out after 3 failed promotion cycles, at least by official policy. Since not every one can become a manager or director when they become 50+, what are they supposed to do if companies won't hire or keep them? Congress keeps raising the age for retirement and medical benefits, and companies don't want to keep them employed, so just what do you do between 50-70?

I hate to use the term "wake up" because I don't want it to be confused with being "woke", but as a society we're on the path to screwing over our kids and grandkids because companies won't want to keep them employed as they get older and they can't get retirement/medical benefits until a higher age than what I'm eligible for. If you think the homeless problems are bad now, wait another 10, 20 or 30 yrs.

"I'm a great worker. No kids at home. Past my party years. Disciplined."

There are a few billion people in India & China that say the same thing. Why would a corporation hire an American contractor over someone on a work visa? Makes very little economic sense.

Maybe lobby your local politicians to tax companies that outsource too many jobs? Or tax companies that utilize h1b employees instead of hiring unemployed Americans?

There are too many 50+ engineers out there for us all to be directors.

Too many directors is half the problem now.

I'm a great worker. No kids at home. Past my party years. Disciplined.

"I'm 50 and was LR'd this round in August as a contractor.

I have a very current and updated skill set. ACI, AWS, Segment routing, etc."

The corporate world doesn't want experienced individual contributors. 50+ needs to be managing people or a Director.

I'm 50 and was LR'd this round in August as a contractor.

I have a very current and updated skill set. ACI, AWS, Segment routing, etc.

Between the DEI questions in the application and the completely monochromatic population of recruiters, I definitely feel like the cards are stacked against me.

I'll overcome.

I do not want to work for anyone after 50.

ER benefits (Early Retirement) is a thing of the past. Profits are now more important than people

Paying some of your best people a huge sum of money to go to your competitors turns out to be a disservice to the stockholders, customers and remaining employees.

FTFY.

BTW, Dodge v. Ford established the legal precedent that profits are more important than people in 1919, so you're more than a century behind reality.

For some odd reason, the concept of age discrimination doesn't seem to be understood by corporate people until it happens to them. It's like how animals aren't aware of the concept of death.

ER benefits (Early Retirement) is a thing of the past. Profits are now more important than people.

It happened to me and I discovered that Cisco has found legal ways to discriminate based on age and salary. They call it other things to make it legal, but the fact of the matter is, older and higher paid employees are a target! Cisco doesn't care about people like they say they do. It is all about who you know and the BU profits. Circumstantial proof is that a retirement parties are almost a thing of the past at Cisco.

Age discrimination will eventually target you, particularly on the west coast and particularly in high tech. Plan your career, your investments and your finances around an exit on your own terms by your 50's. If you cannot do that move to a different industry or a less ageist part of the country, or both.

She told me that they have an unwritten rule to only hire those between ages 27 and 35.

Considering an executive in an all hands ages ago said the goal was an average engineering age of 25 this seems high. I know a couple more dinosaur companies that for a time would only hire straight out of college.

Unless someone with 30 years experience changed jobs to build skills and perspective a kid with 5 years will often be a better buy than the person with 30 years of making the same mistakes. What few realize is that most of the weak people with 30 years experience were weak people with 5 years experience, in part because they were raised in companies with weak people with 30 years experience.

"too senior" means exactly that. "massage" your resume to "stretch your age group" so they can have a hard time figuring out your approx age. If you graduated university 30 yrs ago, HR can figure out your approx age to be 52+.

I knew someone who worked in Cisco HR. She told me that they have an unwritten rule to only hire those between ages 27 and 35. If you're 40 and above you are a liability to them due to your salary and the cost of providing you health insurance.

this all sounds made up - i know of plenty of 50+ even 60+ folks who are still at cisco and are getting promoted. this is just a bunch of troll BS.

Years ago 40 was considered old in Silicon Valley. I recently read that number is now 30.

There's something wrong w/ capitalism in America.

• Corporations are trying to lower their average age of employees, except in their senior leadership roles.
• Congress is trying to do away with Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security, and keeps raising the age at which these benefits are eligible because healthcare is enabling people to live and work longer.
• Congress is full of people that corporations would not hire due to their age, but we keep electing them to gut social security & medicare while companies don't want to hire people as they get older.
• Living costs are so high now, and only the rich can afford college and not be crushed w/ life-long debt so that new generations can't save money during their start-of-career days, can't afford to help their kids with college tuition's in their mid-career days w/o emptying what retirement savings they have, and then are screwed when no one wants to keep or hire them in their late-career days because they're "too expensive".
• Houses are stupid expensive, and younger generations are not able to afford to buy, much less pay them off before they retire. The American dream of having a home w/ a white picket fence to live in when retired is gone. My housing costs will bankrupt me before I die if I live as long after retirement as my parents did.

Years ago 40 was considered old in Silicon Valley. I recently read that number is now 30.

I was 57 when I took the ER in 2020. No problem getting job offers. While I enjoyed my 20+ years with Cisco I realize that I should have left after 5 years. There are better places to work.

Sometimes you'll also be told "you have too much experience" for this position. "Senior" can also be used in this same context. It's legal unless you can prove they mean age. Sadly, this happens all the time. Yes, they are probably discriminating based on age. And no, you will not be able to prove it.