Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

@K5LZp6C-2ohl

Check out the thread titled "Cisco HR lawyers, you better settle these dozens of appeals from former employees ..." - https://www.thelayoff.com/t/K32dlW4

In my BU, the numbers were very much what you mentioned. Age near 50 or above. I must have had a double strike against me, as my spouse maxed out our "out-of-pocket expenses" due to a surgery this year. After the lay-off, we decided to submit all of our "out-of-network" expenses to see if they'd get covered and they did, so I'm milking Cisco for all I can the rest of the year. If I'm going to pay $1750 each month for medical, I'm going to make sure I have $1750 in expenses each month. :-)

I will say, my manager did not screw anyone out of their bonus. Our end-of-year payout was exactly what was expected based on our mid-year payout. It's very sad that some managers would screw someone over as they get booted out the door by stealing they bonus they earned with their hard work all year long. If their mid-year was bad, that's one thing, but to suddenly change their IPF from a 1.0 to a 0.5 or lower at the end of the year and at the same time lay them off, that's shameful. I hope every one of those managers get the karma they deserve.

@K5LZp6C-2ohl - my suspicion is the LR notice will come next week. If that is the case, the bonus rip-off s not something I need to be concerned with. However, the way many here said they lost their bonuses only reaffirms my belief that the company has reached a new low in workforce management (read: The People Deal) and has fueled my desire to take the package and go.

@K5LZp6C-btf. I would leave! I got hit in August after well over 15 years with Cisco and I am over 50. From what I know about the layoffs, they are targeting 50+ (or very close to 50), teams working on products that are EOL and people with high medical expenses (Cisco is self-insured, the bills for medical treatment/prescriptions are paid by Cisco). The package is as described by @K5LZp6C-btf, except it was 4 months of grossed up Cobra if you had more than 10 years.

You are eligible for the year end bonus, but expect to be ripped off. Read some of the previous posts in other threads. Some people reported they got $0 while on guy reported he got $250. Even though I got porked, I guess I should consider myself lucky as I got about 1/3 of what I normally would have gotten. Of course, you don't find out what you got until after you are gone from Cisco when you get your paystub mailed to you, so there's no way you can find out what went into the decision to get what you did.

@K5LZp6C-2rhv - Yes, also what I am concerned about. The size and shape of these LR Packages (in the USA) are purely the discretion of the company. Using IBM as a guide, the packages were once great but got increasingly lean as time went on. Now you are at IBM, after 15-20 years as a dedicated employee and all you get is 30 days.

If this package is decent, I'm taking it regardless of what my other internal offers look like. I'd suspect they will be lateral move$.

The glory days appear to be behind us. Was a good stint.

There's going to be a time where Cisco will run out of cash the way things are going and people will be lucky if they get paid for those last days. The company is spending more money than making money.

I think you should go for it. Especially if your in Silicon Valley. I hear the market is booming there.

@K5LZp6C-1fmo: Not super confident but certainly ready to roll the dice outside. The trend of quarterly layoffs and 'Management Nonsence' has made me think that this is a good time to take a chance.

You sound very sure of your opportunities on the outside. I'd take the package and leave Cisco. Staying and starting the clock with another position internally is soul s---ing.

I would jump ship now. The job market is as good as I have ever seen it. Cisco is on the wrong side of history. Name another company that transitioned from selling high margin to low margin hardware and had a successful software business transition- IBM? HP? Both are still laying people off. If you stay with Cisco sooner or later you will get whacked and chances are things won't be as good as they are now.

Even I don't get let go next week I'm going to leave the package is not worth staying here for more years. Time to pack it up.

Sorry bit out of topic, why are you so sure there will be layoffs next week ? Is this well known?

I would start interviewing outside NOW and take the package when offered. You'd get 4 months total base pay + cobra payments+ unused PTO+ RSUs (accelerated) and any bonus payments due. Cisco will NEVER change its demoralizing culture - quarter after quarter after quarter. After I was notified on Aug 19, I went through interviews with five different companies. They were all interested in me given my background at Cisco around key technologies and solutions. I accepted an offer (better role and pay) at one of Cisco's competitor's.

If you're 100% positive you're being laid off, then why aren't you looking for jobs OUTSIDE of Cisco right now?

Find a new job, try to get the start date to be after your layoff date, and enjoy your severance package. If you're not selected for LR, you still have a new job and can transition from one to the other with little-to-no interruption in your health coverage and pay. If you wait for the LR before looking outside Cisco, you risk taking a while to find a job. Just because you have hot skills and a good resume, it doesn't mean that there's not others with the same skills and sharp resumes on the market too, especially once Cisco does the LR.

As for the details of the package, if you're posting here, why not look at previous threads to get the details instead of asking again? No one can give you the details of the severance package that's coming, only the details of the previous one. There's no assurance that the packages will be the same. This last package was 17% smaller than the one in 2011. I didn't see the details for the 2012, 2013 or 2014 rounds.

In the US, you were paid from the first day you could have been / should have been notified until your end date, which is 2 months (60 days). This was pay-in-lieu of notice. During that 60 days, you still accrued PTO and any scheduled PTO during that 60 days was cancelled. You were also paid your accrued PTO and any hours earned during the 60 days of transition period. You were only considered an employee during the first 30 days. You received only 1 month of "grossed up" COBRA payments to cover the 2nd half of the transition status as your healthcare coverage ended at the end of the month following the month you were notified. Most people in the US were notified in Aug, so the health coverage ended at the end of Sept, and Cisco provided the grossed up Oct COBRA premium.

Again, for the US, the severance package, if you agreed not to sue Cisco, was 3 months of grossed up COBRA premiums, 3 months pay for those who had less than 10 yrs Cisco service BEFORE the announcement. For those between 10-19 yrs of service, they received an additional week of severance for each year of service. For those with greater than 20 yrs, they received an additional two weeks of severance for the years 20 and above.

I left a few years ago and it was on my terms. If you're lucky enough to time a layoff package and a new job, that would be exceptional. It's extremely risky, though, because typically your new employer won't want to wait. You should always move to a new role, not run from the current one. I would first be sure you know what you want to do, and then go find someone at a company you want to work for who can escort your resume to the hiring manager.

Interview outside, get a job lined up for you, take the package, and start somewhere else... At least thats what I did. I got same pay rate, lesser responsibility, no more night calls with offshore, and took home about 80K after tax (pto, bonus, severance, cobra $, etc...) started my new job on the same month so my health coverage did not get disrupted. Spent 50K on home remodeling and 30K on a new car. But the biggest win is that I like the new company, the people are genuinely care for each other. I guess I got lucky, and I am praying for others on the LR list in Sep would get the same ending...