It will be interesting to see who survives this next round which will most likely be complete by end of July.
18 replies (most recent on top)
we had one Director, who literally declared to his employees " dont worry, I am not leaving ", everytime he was found to be the problem., because he was kissing the a** of another VP boss. Guess what , that VP and this Director , both got canned. What goes Up, has to come Down.
I've never worked anywhere where directors and above refer to themselves as "leadership." It's as if they've created their own little caste system. And nothing is ever accomplished because it's always a "journey." It would be nice for leadership to hold itself accountable rather than just re-org and call it a success. Success is measurable. It's not about how many pretty web pages you built, how many manufactured tweets you tweeted, or how many analyst white papers you paid for.
The director level needs to be LRd. They are ruining the Cisco name.
As someone who recently left Cisco for greener pastures-I agree with the most recent comment. At Cisco, "leadership" at the director level or above is making yourself regal, untouchable and unseen-"my people will do the actual work-hands on is beneath me, and I need to go kiss my VP's assso I don't fall victim to next layoff. Marketing is trickle down based on a higher-up's guess of what sales needs-not actual conversations with sales leadership. And the BU and marketing folks usually don't agree until the final hour of a launch-that should tell you something. Other companies out there tear down those walls and get things done and don't require a bunch of unnecessary process.
I actually replied earlier this morning, but I wanted to comment on the poster's comment underneath mine. The one who said her boss called him/her over the phone to do the lay off even though they worked in the same office. How despicable. And that's just how cowardly these so-called leaders are these days.
My manager literally called me from a conference from the West Coast and read a script to me in a monotone voice, similar to what you would expect from a second-grader reading aloud from a textbook. This person didn't allow me to ask any questions. When I was finally able to get a word in, I asked why I was told weeks earlier that my job was safe and then questioned why my job had drastically changed several months earlier with no direction, my manager had the gall to tell me not to take it personally. (By the way, I had just received a Connected Recognition award a month or two prior to my layoff).
I've had some great managers at Cisco, but this last one was the worst I've had at any company. Cisco wants to keep the kiss a**es and toers of the party line rather than the people who want to have honest conversations about solving real business problems.
And most of the executive leadership there are a bunch of egotistical blowhards. It's unreal when I see how down to earth leaders at other companies are. Cisco at one time was my dream company to work for, and in the end it became my worst nightmare.
How did this happen???
I was laid off in February as well and didn't fit the millennial mold as I'm a Gen-Xer. My manager didn't have the decency to lay me off face to face. He called me on the phone as I was driving into the office (we worked in the same office). I heard from other teammates that he did the same with them.
I'm finally getting interviews with companies where I want to work and roles that are a match to my experience. Companies are definitely moving more slowly in their hiring process. Surprisingly when I explain that I was laid off, I get a resounding "What the heck is going on at Cisco? They're always laying off people and it sounds like it's a mess." My former colleagues who are still at Cisco tell me they're anxious and paranoid about layoffs, and get no transparency from management. Fran's People Deal is a joke.
The recent Cisco Beat clearly demonstrated that exec leadership is confused and doesn't have a clue.
And the way they are handling the ER/LR rumor mill/ process is abysmal.
The worst in 18 years
It's obvious the top level management is at a crossroads. Chopping off employee numbers temporarily boosts the stock price seems to be their trick. This is only hurting them in the long run. They lose valuable employees and expect those right out of college to know how to run business. They are also seeing the success of the Facebooks, the Amazons, etc - filled with very young kids and seem to be caught up in the Milennial hype. I'm not saying young kids don't have their place... they do! Cisco is NOT B2C....IMHO, top management should be paying attention to providing a top tier product. Losing MPLS - whether you agree with that team or not - is a sign. Cutting masses of employees and not having a plan in place how they plan to run their marketing initiatives - is another bad sign.
I was laid off in NOVEMBER and am still looking for work. I, too, am Gen X, and everyone who's hiring seems to want to focus on social media. I foresee social media imploding as a marketing tool as security issues abound. It most certainly shouldn't be the primary focus, yet I keep hearing how important it is. It has its place, but like any marketing strategy, it needs to be cohesive and complementary with other channels.
Anyhow, good luck to those who are still looking or who are about to be given the boot. It is absolutlely at the whim of the line manager, and my latest was a doozy and his/her favoritism/targeting will eventually get her canned, too.
Also, for those who get laid off: prepare for a long job search if you're not a millenial. Take advantage of free online courses to hone your skills (EdX is a good site). Best of luck!
I would think anyone who formerly reported to Mike Riegal is fair game. Inbar absorbed his team and word is she didn't get along very well with him.
I too, was laid off in February... it was a total surprise because I was doing very well and already handling the work that remained from the November lay-off. Now, it seems that the Global Partner Marketing team is trying to do the work I did, if at all. Their bandwidth was already maxed out, so how they are getting things done, I have no idea. So therein is a major gap that now exists.
I'm too young to retire and seen as too old to fit their Millennial quest. (I'm Gen X)
And sorry, for those who blasted middle-management. It's that layer that got all the work done - at least on my team. We were the worker bees. It was a luxury to be able to even attend a virtual All Hands. Whereas I can't speak for everyone on my team, 10 hour days were normal.
The inherent problem is higher up the food chain and systemic in nature. Sadly, it has been a year and it is apparent that the C suite marketing team 'still' doesn't have a clue how to proceed. This is a very dark chapter for Cisco.... and all their branding efforts are now moot... because when the word on the street is 'Cisco is not the place to be, now.' - and yes, this is a direct quote from someone I met at an airport who works at Amazon. ... and when former co-workers are more focused on interviewing... what does that tell you?
I was let go in February, totally caught off-guard. Still looking for work as of this writing. Forced semi-retirement may preceed my next opportunity.
It's all about the quarterly earnings game.
The managers who made the decision to outsource all of the collab group's work to India have realised they made a wrong decision, YET they remain in the company while all the good engineers have left. Incompetency is truly treasured.
The word is all grade 12s and most 11s in San Jose have targets on their backs. Very low morale when there's a quarterly cake walk with an ever-diminishing number of chairs. But Karen's just doing whatever it takes to please Chuck-whatever that may be.
Our VP told us to expect more changes and recommended that everyone update resumes. We have lots of young inexperienced new grads in our group working on bright shiny objects that are not providing any ROI. But they're young so they can do no wrong.
do you have more details you can share? Marketing has already been hit very hard... and everyone I know working in a marketing capacity is already looking. They are hiring much lower pay grades to do the same work higher pay grades were.... so you know what that means: they are hiring new graduates with out any experience!