Don’t be foolish and invest yourself. I was laid off last round, and I regret all the effort, overtime and dedication. I was recognized as a high performer and still I was among the first to be let go. I learned my lesson. Now I look at the job in a healthier way, and I see relation to a company as purely transactional at my current workplace. If a company doesn’t value your work, why should you go above and beyond?
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I do the job I am paid to do, and I do it the best I can. No more, no less. I'm not paid to worry about TAC calls at the weekend or BS like "going the extra mile" or volunteering for the CSR BS to make Cisco look good, so I don't do it any more. I did all this stuff way back when we were given good raises and stocks and not having to worry about being LR'd every month but loyalty is a two way street. Fu-k that these days. I'm not being unprofessional - I am doing what I am compensated to do. I don't wish Cisco ill-will, I want them to succeed. But if they create a more complex environment to work in then they need more people to do that work. If they not got enough people to address that complexity because they LR every fu--ing week then that ain't my problem.
If your manager likes you , you are safe.
Only if your manager has strong connections up the food chain. If a director is weak they and all the teams under them may be laid off.
As for being "recognized as a high performer," it often means nothing at Cisco. I was recognized as a high performer by Cisco's standards, but at any other company I worked at I'd fire me and everyone else I worked with if we did the level of work management at Cisco demanded. The reason I don't need to do that at other companies is because I get rid of people years before they can build up the kind of technical debt Cisco rewards its engineers for creating.
"going beyond" at Cisco means working until 4:15pm
Totally, LR’s are not performance based . If your manager likes you , you are safe. If they see you as a threat or not fitting into group either because of your ability to get things done, smart compared to rest , go above and beyond or outshine them in any way sacrifice in next LR is a given. It’s a matter of when not IF for LR.