i am lost - this doesn't make sense - how does one avoid getting laid off?
Keep learning new things? Keep building network? is that it?
27 replies (most recent on top)
The following helps to prevent LR:
- Work in a BU that has increasing opex. LR happens when opex is reduced. The BU with increasing opex has either growing sales or is a new business with growing potential sales. Also, Cisco wants to be number one or two in a business area, If Cisco's rank is falling, your BU is in decline. This will be the official cause if you do get laid off.
- Work on the products tied to customer and revenue. Infrastructure and support efforts are easier to stretch out and cut. Some engineers are set up for LR by being assigned an unimportant project.
- Be visible. I found remote workers are easier to cut since their absence has less impact on morale. They are the first too go. It also helps to help others on your team.
- Make your boss look good. This includes performing well. Working projects that are important to your boss as opposed to working a project led by a different manager. Not fighting with your boss or making him look bad. Getting along with people helps.
- It helps if your boss is higher up and more important. If your boss is more valuable to the company, you will be too.
- Meet your commitments. It is better to give unagressive schedules that you can meet and leaves time to help others and think strategically. You can work harder than your peers, deliver way more but if you always miss the stretch goals that you set for yourself, perception will be bad. Also, it messes up your manager's schedule tracking.
do sales in a hot technology (e.g. XDR, Splunk, TE, Spaces, etc.)
- Lift yourself up by your bootstraps and become independently wealthy enough to survive even major downturns
For those that might say "build your own company," look up Advanced Modular Solutions by Ken Olsen after he was ousted as CEO at DEC.
What won't keep you from getting laid off but will help you maintain employment throughout your career is to keep growing skills and professional networks, and part of that is jumping jobs periodically to find new growth opportunities. If you do get laid off you'll have confidence from having done the job search successfully and repeatedly which will improve your chances to get the next job.
Live in India and do one of the jobs that an American used to do.
I saw some of the projects we dumped on you. My condolences.
You do a role that no one else wants to do and would be very hard to replace or you make that role for yourself on the team.
Amen. Just make sure it’s not in a legacy technology that CSCO could exit the next day.
@coj+1uz77csT wise words, I’m in a similar situation.
The rich are getting not just richer, but disgustingly richer while we poor peasants fight over who won the presidential debate, and are so divided as a nation. It's exactly the same at work. Politics and toxicity to keep us weak.
Want to see a change? Start uniting against those who are taking 80% of your work productivity outcomes for FREE and give it to the rich.
In order of importance. Don't make anywhere near or above the midpoint of your salary grade range, don't be White, don't be male, don't be over 50, and don't work at Cisco any longer than it takes you to find a job anywhere else.
brown nose
Increase your bus factor (the impact it will have on the team if you get hit by a bus)
Live in India and do one of the jobs that an American used to do.
Its simple , dont voice your opinion, agree with everything your boss says, go on video for endless do nothing meetings and smile at the VPs and offer to shine their shoes, not rocket science, poof 25 years later , multi millionaire with 10k of stock to fall back on if you are found out.
Sigma
I was working on a number of critical projects. High praise and good feedback on my performance. Well liked by senior stakeholders and managers. Laid off, nonetheless.
In most cases, you can ascribe some logic to a layoff. Someone underperformed or ruffled peoples feathers. But sometimes it is pure chaos.
Been in IT almost 30 years, only laid off once and learned this: You do a role that no one else wants to do and would be very hard to replace or you make that role for yourself on the team. Work well with people even when you want to sm--k ‘em. Also, volunteer to do stretch assignments on your team, but outside of your role. Help others on the team/mentor others. If you are near an office, go in and network with others. Always think how can I bullet proof myself? This is for any place you work. Be invaluable and difficult to replace. It can be exhausting!! I’ve noticed a lot of people at Cisco only want to do their role which is easily outsourced(software engineers in particular) and are a pain to work with. Those I’ve seen get affected most by the LR over time.
Sidenote: also carry low or no personal debt in your personal life so you are not so affected by an LR. Always have an emergency fund. I got laid off in 2008 and had high debt, no emergency fund and just bought a home that almost immediately had negative home equity thanks to the financial crisis. Never again. That situation scarred me for life but it changed me and how I am in the work place and with personal finance.
You can't. You need to create your own insurance policy for getting LR'ed which is keeping your CV up to date and ensuring you're not complacent.
Folks get way too comfortable working at Cisco. The money and package though not stellar is decent and it is quite easy to hide in many roles and complacency sets in and folks become lazy. This is a career death sentence and puts you at the mercy of Cisco and the LR machine. Keep building your skills, whatever your role or age.
You can't do anything to avoid it. There are certain classes that make it more likely you will be let go:
#1 Are you male?
#2 Are you white?
#3 Are you 45 or older?
#4 Do you make more than what you can be replaced by?
In the end, YOU are nothing more than an expense on a balance sheet, nothing more. They do calculations on who is the least costly to get rid of and easiest to replace. AI can do the jobs of 25% of the people employed now and that will grow to 50% within the next 5 years or less. So, don't think any job is safe in tech
Keep learning new things? Keep building network? - That will not avoid you getting laid off. But when you do those 2 things will get you a new job quicker than others.
Getting laid off all boils down to the perception you create with your boss, your leadership and people you work with. If it’s a negative perception then such times the skeletons come out of closet. It’s not about your real performance. It’s just about how others think of you. If they don’t like you in any way you will end up on chopping list. Maybe not by your direct boss but one or two levels up.
It’s tough, and I understand how frustrating it feels. I’ve been looking for a job since February, and what I’m sharing is what I wish I had done while I was still employed. In the end, you can’t always avoid being laid off, but the key is to be prepared. Never stop improving yourself—whether that’s by learning new skills or sharpening the ones you have. Increase your value by staying up-to-date with industry trends and training. Self-promotion is crucial too—don’t wait for others to give you credit. Actively showcase your work and achievements. This will help you stand out for lateral or upward moves within your company and give you stronger options when it’s time to seek new opportunities, whether by choice or not.
The best way to be laid off is:
- contacting local labour inspection to mention the activity of you FLM
- asking you lawyer to send a letter asking to HR why your FLM is practising mobbing
Once laid off, you can always prosecute your FLM directly, even by contumace if the FLM is another European country, publish the ruling in local news, and send European order to local bailiff to proceed payment.
By not being the most paid in the group then you should be safer than that one. Well unless, that other is a$$ kisser then you’re doomed.
How do you avoid getting laid off? You leave.
Cisco doesn’t have a strategy so it’s no surprise the have no strategy when laying people off.
Go work for a more solid company. Get yourself a 20% raise Cisco never would have given you.
Don’t operate from a place of scarcity. They want you to be afraid to go out and look for a job on your own Go find a new and better job, then leave.
If whole BU gone, no one can save you.
Others make yourself 'cheap' to avoid the radar.
3 small mistakes that can get you into big trouble at work, from an HR professional
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/3-small-mistakes-that-can-get-you-into-big-trouble-at-work-from-an-hr-professional/ar-AA1pHs4e
If there was an actual strategy at Cisco, you could ensure that your skill set aligned to support it.
Alas, there is no strategy at Cisco so every layoff is a cr-p shoot.
FLM need not always like you. They can offer you for the sacrifice, but can be overridden by higher ups if they like you.
Your flm needs to like you . If they don’t for some reason they will offer you for the sacrifice