Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

I am an old guy. Been around a long time. I don't consider myself a racist, never have. Yet apparenyly if I am not now proactive I am considered an enabler of those who are racist and by extension I am now considered racist as well.
I feel for black people. They have been short changed a long time. But the movement to make the country color blind, which is admirable and I support, has been coopted by opportunists, snarchists and looters. You look at cities like New York, Seattle and Portland and wonder what on earth has happened to our country. I truly believe the worthy goals of the black movement has been used by outsiders to try and destroy our country from the inside. Politics aside, when do the authorities in control of local governments begin to once again regain control. Oh, and by the way, I do support the police, the me too movement and black lives matter. They should work together.

Diversity at Cisco is code for replacing older, white men.

Perhaps Cisco HR should try a few red badge hires from this site ...

http://rentaminority.com

I really like these words of inspiration. Thanks! I just wrapped up my final interviews with Google today. It certainly deserves a chapter in my book I plan to write one day. Positive vibes to everyone... Even the Trolls :)

@9ptu: I agree with the trouble of picking up the pieces to move on. I also realize that that company has no obligation to invest in the employee to update HIS technical skills for his job, if there is a EIC available.

Focusing on the decision of the company to replace you- will only attract negative dark thoughts, which will cause more depression. What I want all to focus is, the world is big. Cisco is not the Only company. We work hard and we can develop skills, think positive and you will get only positive results.

Stop distorting the message and minimizing impact. Are you ok with the decision to let people go as it was done in 2016 by creating spreadsheets that track the number of years, total compensation, and grade? No performance question. Just number of years, grade, compensation, I am not ok with that. It is a way to reverse into age discrimination. Are you ok with forcing whole families to uproot their lives because a high performing person suddenly deemed expensive was laid off while the leadership team continues to swim in money? I am not. Are you ok with forcing people who just got to the end of a 4 year vesting process to start all over again? Yes, high performing contributions for a number of years actually get you to full compensation. If you are ok with that then look at your offer if there are rsu's there you will never get to the full compensation package and if you do it is short lived. yes, I and many others got a job right away but it had real impact to my family. It will take a number of years again for the new rsu's to catch up. (btw - if you don't think either initial or ongoing rsu's mean anything you can give your rsu's to me.). Many people where forced to pull their kids out of school and move, others have to travel now. There was real impact, so stop trying to minimize it!!!

@7uus : yes, I agree with your statement. I am saying the same. The employer has the right to decide if he needs you or not.

But since the employee has skillset inspite of 50+ yrs, he is hired by another company.

So why cry "age discrimination" .... as long as one is willing to be employed, it doesnt matter if it is Csco, FB, or a startup.

@OXMuQLx-7asd - f it is only about skills, why are the 50+ people who are let go getting hired by other companies? It's not as if Cisco is looking for new and unusual abilities

@6kog: happens all the time.. look at all the rich men.. they update their wives all the time.. nothing about right and wrong.

The exes get their severance and are gone..I am seeing that anyone who is skilled for the current environment, gets a job elsewhere in another company. The problem is with that group, who cannot update their skills, hence no one employs them . Be flexible with your expectations. This is USA.. hardwork still pays.

This is not about age.. it is about skills.

6flt- you are not asking the right question. The question is about longstanding high performing loyal employees who are presently employed. These people got to their compensation levels because the contributed to Cisco success and still were. The right question is. If I owed a business and had a loyal high performing employee that helped build the company would I fire that person for cheaper early in career labor all while both the company and myself are making dollars hand over fist..... no.no I wouldn't because I know that is wrong.

so here is my question : IF you had your own business, and need someone to do a task, would you consider a person, who is young energetic and eager to impress and already has task knowledge from his school.... or hire a 50+ yr old, who already needs a base salary( higher than the EIC), did not get himself updated with the latest technology and cannot immediatly be productive.

I would go for EIC. At the same time, if there is indeed a 50+ yr old, who has the technical know-how and can be productive, They are being hired.

There is no such thing as diversity, especially when it's manufactured. Hiring people based on anything but talent and credentials is discriminatory, whether you're young, old, black, white, male,female, g--, straight, etc. Cisco are the experts at discrimination.

Totally agree with the last few posts on age discrimination dimention. It is massive problem at Cisco.

Diversity should cover all dimentons of race, age, gender, orientation and physical ability.

In Cisco diversity just means paying lip service to two dimensions only : gender and race and even there Cisco fail.

For example....

1) More senior VPs may now be female but very capable female engineers are still overlooked at the mid and low levels. Is this really gender equality? I've seen part time / job share mothers be LRed.

2) Using lower wage Indian workers does not mean you have a diverse workforce. It just means that Cisco are exploiting lower wage workers. Where are all the African Americans at Cisco Atlanta for example? Totally under represented when compared to the percentage in the Atlanta poulation.

3) "Early in career" does not excuse discrimination against older workers based on pure predujudice ... on cutting higher wages, perceived lack of motivation, perceived resistance to change, perceived potential for health problems or perceived work–family balance issues. All poor excuses.

Look, there aren't that many of us 50+ years olds left. I really doubt it would be impactful to the bottom line to cut all that are left, as the cutting has been done. Cisco would save some $, but I doubt it would be that amount would be meaningful at this point.

And how are all those "new in career" reps working out? They need to balance the experience set out somewhat to hit numbers. The newbies have not been carrying the load so far.

5mdy - why is the fact that eic being around for decades relevant? The fact is what 5bjh described is an immoral and an illegal practice. No one should be ok with it let alone defend it.

Early in career has been around for ages. Get a grip would you. Of course Cisco looks after early in career.

Cisco is changing it's "marketing" for hiring. Now they are focusing on "Early in Career = EIC" - unexperienced and cheap. There is even an "Early in Career" networking site/group now.

Very experienced red badges (contractors) are being let go and EIC Blue Badges are being hired in their places.

What that says to me is "You're old and you're too expensive so we're not going to invest any money in to you."

Age discrimination at its finest.

Diversity at Cisco is to hire more non-Americans. I've seen entire departments that are male+Indian. But because they are hiring non-White males, they're considered diverse.

Layoff in Aug., 2016 was definitely targetting people of age 50+. In the meeting put together by HR in BXB to explain how to claim unemployment, etc. everybody in the room was 50+, including the HR director who was told she was being laid off after she did all the dirty work for the layoff.

Oddly, on their pictures of diversity, there are no old white guys.

I was impacted by the Aug 2016 LR. While I think they treated me pretty fairly, there wasn't any question what the target demographic was in that LR.