Joining the Big Tech layoff season, networking major Cisco has reportedly started laying off 5 per cent of its workforce, which is more than 4,000 employees as a part of its “rebalancing” act and “rightsizing certain businesses”.
Silicon Valley Business Journal reported that many workers took to TheLayoff.com and Blind portal to post about the job cuts at the company. “Impacted by Cisco layoffs!” one company employees said on Blind while another sought “Looking for immediate (software engineering) referrals. Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks.”
However, Cisco did not directly comment on severance packages but said in a statement that “we didn’t take this decision lightly, and we will offer those impacted extensive support, including generous severance packages”.
In its first quarter earning report (Q1 2023) last month, Cisco reported $13.6 billion in revenue, up 6 per cent year over year. Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco, merely said that he would “be reluctant to go into a lot of detail here until we’re able to talk to them. I would say that what we’re doing is rightsizing certain businesses”.
Cisco Chief Financial Officer Scott Herren had described the move as a “rebalancing” act.