Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Agree 100% with you, no point in wasting prime time on this company. You are just another pee-on they need for now.

It amazes me how some BU's who's market share keeps dropping year after year has no major organizational overall (leadership/personnel change). Same dumb--ses making the same stupid decisions, with peers from the same village who have no clue how their products work.

You want good change, take feedback from bottom up, not top down. Find out from the bottom up which leaders/PMs/TMEs are contributing to a BU's success.

nine rounds of interviews for hiring and one day they fire you:::: its so unfair

2bke, I would have agreed with you until I came to Cisco. I've spent years at bigger blue chip companies and lived the kind of dysfunction you're talking about, but Cisco takes it all to entirely new levels. Truly impressive.

I have no connection to Cisco other than years ago interviewing once at a company just bought by Cisco & was later dismantled. Glad I didn't get the job!

The post & comments on this thread can be said of just about EVERY blue chip/Fortune 200 company out there. Incompetent lying thieving executives, lousy long-term planning (or none), employees & their benefits are cut annually, low morale, all to artificially prop up the stock price & meet financial goals for management bonuses.

That's how business is run in 'merica these days. Makes you wonder if the entire financial system on Wall St. has no real foundation.

... but job interview prep is quite time-consuming with a full-time job

... taking days off for the interview (and perhaps the day before the interview) kills PTO over time.

Agree with the comment below... a lot more stressful when ur forced out.

Definitely start looking for a new position while you are employed - it's much less stress to leave a job for another job. And when asked why you are looking, you can tell the truth - Cisco has been cutting so many with abandon that you'd rather work someplace that actually thinks before they let someone go

That's a lot of words to say "I'm just discovering the incredibly obvious which hasn't changed in the 10 years I've worked at the company." Cisco has been tossing groups and occasionally sites the whole time and the good have always gone out with the bad.

Unless you have a cushy retirement level golden parachute you should never bet your career on any company. You should always keep building skills and networking both inside and outside your company for career advancement opportunities. Good people who came in through acquisitions were bailing the moment they vested even before the 2000 stock collapse because the work outside Cisco was better and the revolving door was more profitable than Cisco stock even when it was growing rapidly. If you really are a "high achiever" you'll be looking for these kinds of growth opportunities rather than sitting in a group hoping for the occasional biscuit.

Run don't walk to the door. Don't wait for the next lay-off round (which rumor says is in Q2). Build up your linked in Network. Spend at least 1-2 hours a week connecting with old acquaintances that are outside of Cisco. Start trolling the job boards and job postings. It is question of when you will get hit not if.

how about the idea of another side business while enjoying the sischo coffee

It's the best deadwood salary I know. I happily stay working here enjoying rich RSU and benifits until I fired. Cisco try to screw me I screw them.

I was in the same position as you until I got LR'd this time. Mid-thirties, 10 years Cisco and only company on my resume.

The company is too slow and has LITERALLY churned 25,000 employees over the past 5 layoffs and is no better than when the layoffs started... in fact its clearly worse.

25,000 out of ~70,000 employees is roughly a third. Therefore you have a 7% likelihood of being laid off every year or 1 in 3 over a 5 year period.

Or you could be deadwood and leech on Cisco as many I know are doing until you get LR'd!

Run.

Why keep earning 30% (at least) less than what you're worth for even one more day? That doesn't help you, your family, or your career.

Depends on what you do and what you are learning- if it would be of value outside of Cisco. All technology companies face the eventual commoditization of their products. Cisco is rapidly approaching that time in its trajectory. Can it make a transition from a router/switch vendor to something else - who knows. If you are happy and don't mind the yearly Hunger Games then stick around - as long as your job allows you to learn things that would be valuable on the street.

You never know when it will be your turn to have that September one on one with your boss.

Get out ASAP. You've already been here way too long for your age, and the longer you stay, the harder it'll be to transition to another tech company. But be prepared. What defines a person as a high achiever at Cisco is very different from other companies.

Left at age 41 after almost 10 years. Having Cisco on your resume for a few years is okay-10+ and it's a liability for companies like Salesforce.com, Google, Amazon-who actually innovate and know how the cloud works. Get out. I'm got too many friends on LinkedIn who were eternal senior managers-senior manager for 10-15 years with no hope of ever making director.

Take your package and go!

And I agree 100% with your analysis.

Cisco does not innovate, they just stop smart people from thinking and sh-- grade 12 give orders to religiously execute...

You should leave while you're still marketable. Those with 10+ years at Cisco are viewed as "lifers" who can't handle the pace at smaller, more nimble companies.

And yes, they will eventually sack you without cause if you are in the wrong group and you don't have enough visibility with higher ups.

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