…Cisco is like a box of chocolates, you just don’t know what you are gonna get.
I spent 17 amazing years at Cisco, survived at least 8 manor layoffs.
Some are warranted given:
- market dynamics, over-hire during bo-m and shrink during busts.
- post acquisition clean-up ie: eliminate redundancies
Some are though:
- stock is sagging due to lack of growth = cut operating costs
- competitors doing better in rev$ per employee metric
- outsourcing trend
The worst layoffs in my opinion are those offering generous packages to anyone, so great employees leave to the competition with a loot in their bags.
Missed market opportunities are also mind blogging. Completely missing the cloud opportunity is a great example. Talent exodus during the mid 2010’s were very hurtful.
I could go on…but gotta go and live my life now 😎