Cisco cuts another 600-plus jobs

Another round of employees at Cisco Systems reportedly got pink slips Thursday, as the company laid off several hundred employees as part of its plan to cut costs and realign its business.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that between 600 and 700 Cisco employees were laid off at the company's headquarters in San Jose, Calif. The company also cut jobs at branch offices in other parts of the U.S. The Wall Street Journal cited sources close to the company.

A spokesman for the company told the Wall Street Journal that Cisco was "doing everything possible to minimize the impact on employees affected by the limited restructuring."

Like all companies, Cisco, which makes networking equipment that runs the Internet and provides communications for large companies, has seen sales slump as a result of the global recession. The company said earlier this year that it would likely cut between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs as it realigned its business to focus on newer more profitable business segments. The cuts were expected to be completed at the end of the company's fiscal year, which ends this month.

In February, Cisco said it cut about 250 jobs at its San Jose headquarters. Cisco had 66,558 employees at the end of April. Despite the cuts, Cisco's CEO John Chambers has said publicly that he believes the worst of the recession is over. But he noted that it could take some time before spending returns to high levels. Wall Street will be watching the company's next earnings call very carefully to see signs that the bottom has been reached. Cisco will report fiscal fourth quarter and end of year earnings on August 5 after the market closes.

[flickrz]

Cisco CEO keeps getting a fat paycheck so that he can layoff more employees. "Real world corporate america."

[Mr. Dee]

Hey CISCO, I still have not gotten my CISCO IT Essentials Level II certificate. Whats up with that? Did you fire the printers too?

[troyrader]

In worse economic times for the industry, the CEO took a $1/year salary.

[flickrz]

Yeah. Takes $1/year salary but, gets options worth millions as a reward for cutting cost and showing increased profitability. It doesn't matter even if that cost cutting could lead to reduced growth rate in the long run because all what these boards care is "short term" profits. And since stock prices are directly related to profitability CEOs make millions by the end of his/her term i.e. usually 3-4 years.

[peterSK001]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12683

[andyengle]

Joe Biden:

??Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom, progress toward getting our economy back on the move.??

Meanwhile, 600 Cisco employees cut. I think Biden, once the dumbest man in the Senate, needs to open his eyes.

[jessiethe3rd]

I have been through RIFs (reduction in force) as I am sure many people have. I wish anyone effected the best - it's tough out there just know you are not alone. Pick yourself up and fight back. Go to the competition and wreck havok :):)