Cisco has reportedly engaged in significant layoffs this week, sweeping numerous business units.
A source told CX Today that the actions – which started on Monday, July 17th - allegedly affected the following business units:
- Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)
- Cisco Collaboration
- Cisco Cisco Data Center Services & Solutions
- Cisco Experience Centers (CxC) - Research Triangle Park, N.C. "dissolved"
- Cisco Security Business Group (SBG)
- Cisco Servers - Unified Computing System (UCS)
- Cisco Webex
Cisco has not yet confirmed this, instead providing a statement to CX Today when asked for clarity.
The tech giant stated that the most recent job cuts are a continuation of "the rebalancing effort" announced in November 2022.
As such, the layoffs may include the 4,100 employees Cisco suggested it would let go in December, which equates to approximately five percent of its workforce.
Doubling down on this, Cisco noted:
This is not about cost savings as we have roughly the same number of employees as we did before the process began. This rebalancing is about prioritizing investments in our transformation, to meet and exceed our customers' expectations in the changing technology landscape.
"We will continue to do everything we can to help place affected employees in open roles and offer extensive support including generous severance packages."
Despite these assurances, many individuals have taken to Blind – the verified employee community for large tech companies - to have their say.
"Another day, another Cisco layoff," noted one user.
"Working at Cisco is like gambling at a casino," wrote another. "Making it to grade 12 without getting laid off is hard."
Of course, such negativity comes with the territory, and a Cisco engineer gave a more balanced take on LinkedIn.
Many more posts have appeared on the platform in recent days, alongside other platforms like Blind and TheLayoff.com.
While the latter does not provide verified responses, posts seemingly suggest IT support staff in India and Collaboration engineering teams in China have been primarily affected.
Is Cisco Collaboration and Webex Tumbling Down the Priority List?
Despite Cisco’s insistence that the layoffs are a continuation of its November plans, the alleged Webex cuts come after a difficult period for Cisco’s collaboration business.