Pros

Name recognition
Good benefits - besides salary, the benefits package is very good including severence
Insight to new technology and products
Great people (in general)

Cons

Terrible middle management - way too many managers who are just clueless
Too political - expected at big companies such as Cisco
No chance for career advancement - due to combination of terrible management and useless performance review
Unfair and awful performance evaluation - what you get 100% depends on your manager, it has nothing to do with how well you performed.
Zero innovation
Zero respect for engineers - even though technology is what drives this company, management typically has no respect for technical folks. Engineers are treated like warm bodies under managers who have no clue about what they do.
Terrible place for superb talents - superb talents doing superb work are almost never recongized unless he/she kiss a**. Your manager generally takes all the credit for the work.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize the good people and get rid of the dead wood. Infuse capable middle management and make this place a fun environment to work again.

Pros

It is incredibly stable and nothing will ever happen. Its great if you want to make sure you have job and income stability.

Cons

Just like the pro, nothing ever happens. You will not advance despite your skills and performance. They are a merger company and gain talent through acquisitions. Unless you are upper management avoid at all costs.

Advice to Senior Management

I would strongly suggest making the people who work for you feel appreciated. I came via acquisition and watched the morale and talent plummet from the previous company.

Pros

I started working for Cisco thinking that this is the company that I wanted to retire with. It had the name and the market share to prove. The reputation of treating employees fairly and rewarding them based on performance was also high on my list.

Cons

During the bad times, the true Cisco came to light. Bad Managers were promoted. Wrong decisions were taken and good people either were let go or simply resigned, like myself.

Advice to Senior Management

Get to know your people and your customer, and stop being arrogant and claim that you want to change the world.

Pros

Flexibility
Good people to work with

Cons

Lack of career development
Lack of communication on corporate strategy

Advice to Senior Management

Trade big picture insights with all employees

Pros

If you want a company with a good brand, market share and status, Cisco is a good one. Good opportunities for working remote. Good to have 1-2 years of Cisco experience on your resume, then look for a firm that you'd want to work at.

Cons

Cisco has either bought or driven most competitors into the ground resulting in no urgency around providing quality products. No transparency into the promotion process, it works as a good old boy network. Aside from a few token women VPs, there are no career advancement opportunites for women. Management does not listen to employees - their egos are so large, they either know it all already or they are too busy fighting internal territorial battles. If you want a company exploding with arrogance, this is the right one.

Advice to Senior Management

One day there will be other companies that provide the same end results with products/services - customers will remember all of the poor quality products they had to put up with, as well as the complexities in doing business with Cisco and will leave in a hurry.

Pros

- Ability to work remotely
- Easier to sell Cisco than selling a niche product in this economy.
- Good on-site facilities if you live in the Bay Area

Cons

1) BIG TIME Politics
2) If you want to learn the art of Kissing !@$, this is the place for you
3) Too many layers of management
4) No work life balance

Advice to Senior Management

There is no need for EPM's (employee reviews) if you are going to reward those that do do #1 and #2 well (in Cons). In order to do this, you have to minimize the number of management layers in order for the folks doing their job well to be recognized. Not everyone is wired to play into politics. If you continue rewarding those that tell you what you want to hear, changes are not going to be made to maintain Cisco's leadership position in the marketplace.

Salary alone is not going to keep people happy. When the market turns, I would suspect our competitors will go after our best talent because if anyone is reading what is being posted on Glassdoor.com, there are obviously employee satisfaction issues. As much as we all think Cisco is THE PLACE to work in Silicon Valley, I beg to differ. Any company that is in growth mode would get my attention if the right opportunity was offered.

Pros

Great benefits, good food, ability to telecommute

Cons

Cisco is a behemoth. I found it to be a very impersonal, cold environment where a majority of the employees seemed to have drank the Cisco "kool-aid."

Advice to Senior Management

There are some good people at Cisco, however, a couple of the managers that I worked with really made my experience there a not so stellar one. Be fair and genuine in your dealings with people. I really does go a long way.

Pros

Working on good technology. The benefits are great. Love the gym. Moving around within the company is great.

Cons

A lot of variation within the company. Some BUs are very laid back others are slave driving BUs. Too much cultural differentiation even inside Cisco. I think it's the result of too many acquisitions. I changed BUs 3 times so I know.

Advice to Senior Management

Enforce a more consistent working culture inside Cisco

Pros

I have a lot of latitude in how to do my job--I don't have to use processes or tools that aren't optimal because that is policy. Cisco is also really supportive of parents; I never get flak about working at home or leaving early to care for my son.

Cons

It's so big that nothing happens quickly. Also, you can go years without a raise.

Advice to Senior Management

Cost-cutting is great, but make sure employees feel valued rather than nickel and dimed to death.

Pros

The salary and benefits are good. Fellow employees are for the most part nice and helpful. There is some recognition for working at Cisco.

Cons

Management is slow and goals are vague or inconsistent. Evaluations are subjective and career advancement is not great. Not much recognition for the work you do. Cisco culture is political. Also, they only play Fox News on the TVs at the cafeteria. That news broadcast is way too opinionated, political, and annoying.

Advice to Senior Management

Getting back free soft drinks would be nice. Please stop playing Fox News at the cafeteria. Recognize talent and hard work or allow more opportunities for advancement.