Pros

Options awarded prior to the dotcom bust can be worth millions.
Good outplacement services
Some managers have integrity

Cons

Long hours
Good performers can be laid off for being in the wrong place at the wrong time
Layoffs focus on those with 10+ yrs experience
Managers can write reviews that are entirely political, with no consideration of the work completed
In PDI, they laid off almost everyone in SJ, while the entire management hierachy planned their own exits - awful.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want loyal employees, show them the loyalty they deserve. John Chambers - do you remember the core values you told us to embrace at our birthday breakfasts? What happened to them?

Pros

Flexible Telecommuting options when necessary
Overall easy going culture (if not directly working with you and in competition)
The name.

Cons

Leaderships at all levels very political, and only those who are good at it move up despite their skills or true leadership skills.

Very vague promotions criteria. Differs from manager to manager, largely because there isn't one and it is basically up to your manager's personal opinion and standard and their power in the organization.

No rocking the boat allowed. If you see inefficiency, go along with it otherwise you'll get negative comments in your 360 review for being difficult and hard to work with. You'll see a lot of chasing around the tails on some very straightforward questions as a result.

Concensus driven decisions and no true leader will drag on projects for a very long time and dissolve at some point without warning.

Pay and incentive is NOT based on performance. Bell curve is used and even with performance evaluation, most people get the same bonus. This discourages and frustrates high performers but is a haven for those who can adapt and just cruise on mediocracy.

Advice to Senior Management

Are we looking for real thinkers and innovators or those who clock in/out for paychecks?
Because if it's latter, there're plent of mediocre happy employess who will cruise along with it.

Pros

About as stable as it can be
Work from home

Cons

No raises
Decreasing benefits (health, food, drinks, etc. - some big items, some small)
Food (used to be good)
A lot of people on cruise control until things pick up..then they will leave the company
Too much red tape
No travel - non-HQ teams/member cannot meet. If you are not in San Jose, you are at a major disadvantage
Too many corporate initiatives - can't keep track
Loosing its luster on the resume
Too big

Advice to Senior Management

More pay, less red tape, better Cafes.

Pros

- you can work from home.
- relaxed dress code
- pay check isn't going to bounce

Cons

- very high workload, can get ridiculous when covering for absent colleagues.
- no training.
- no annual pay rises, irrespective of performance. So each year your efforts are rewarded with an effective pay cut as inflation eats into your competitive starting salary of 5 years before!
- limited/no career progression.
- Benefits steadily cut - the joke in the offices is that soon we will have to pay for our own toilet paper.
- employees now have to pay for own broadband and mobile phones - which the company still expects you to use for cisco business - figure that one out.
- expected to be on call virtually 24 hours a day.
- A performance review process which is laughable - break your back or sit back - no difference.

Advice to Senior Management

- stop self promoting and start thinking more of your employees because as the economy turns around you are going to lose an awful lot of good people.
-

Pros

Stable job - pretty much 9-5
Benefits are good, reasonable cost
Free drinks (that's gone now)
Stock purchase plan / bonus - good when it comes through, but don't count on it

Cons

As countless others have said: politics, politics, politics. Technical abilities - nobody cares. Play the political game and you'll go far. If you're looking for a place to grow your technical skills, look elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

Cisco has become too big to manage.

Pros

Great opportunity to move around if you were inclined
In the early days the entrepreneurial spirit was inspiring
Great people - many of whom are dedicated to doing the right thing.

Cons

Senior management have lost the plot.
Cisco's culture "legend" is not what it is today.
Vague corporate goals lead to duplication of effort, politics and individual interpretation of what is important for the organization to reach it's goals.
Too many directors with no one reporting to them.

Advice to Senior Management

Get back to basics, get your head out of the sand and treat your people like they matter. Rhetoric does not match actions.

Pros

Good Life-work balance
Not stressful
Company emphasis on personal time
Generally friendly environment
Company is doing well financially
Great company to work if you are a recent college grad and want experience

Cons

Very political and promotions are not always given to those that are productive
Company is not in favor of paying in the top percentile in the industry
Raises are only given to senior management and not generally given to individual contributors
Many complain that they have not had raises in over 3 years but management has
HR is not helpful
Management puts more effort in quality of life and not salaries

Advice to Senior Management

Pay more attention to senior, productive individual contributors

Pros

Won't get laid off, unless you are a terrible employee
Biweekly paycheck
Tea and coffee in the breakroom

Cons

The role of management is to stifle creativity. There adverse to logic and reasoning.
No benefits. Expect to be treated like an illegal immigrant.
Don't expect to work on anything fun or interesting. Such things do not exist at this company.

Advice to Senior Management

Resign and put it competent managers interested in engineers and creativity, as opposed to blatant self promotion, cronyism, and hurting engineers.

Pros

Work hours seem to be 9:00am - 4:45pm (4:15pm on Fridays) so you are able to keep a work-life balance for the most part.
Nice friendly colleagues.
If you keep your head down, don't rock the boat, and don't think outside the box, you'll do fine.

Cons

Rewards & recognition are hard to come by - you have to work the political game well to get management recognition for your work.
Upward mobility is also very hard to achieve with entrenched employees and very little movement, other than horizontal.
You are judged not on how well you do your work, but on who you know and your political clout.
A very passive-aggressive workforce who will smile in your face and agree with you, then undermine you and not help - only unless it serves them in their political gain.
Employee Monsters are easily recognizable, but are allowed to wreak havoc because management avoids all possible conflict (see: passive-aggressive)
Definitely an old-school mentality to go along with it's stereotypical "cubeville" work environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Most of your employees are doing the minimum to get by, and avoid rocking the boat or any possible layoff. Encourage your employees - the risk takers and overachievers especially - so they can advance the company and feel rewarded in exchange. The overabundance of Yes Men/Women and Gladhanders, are usually the biggest backstabbers who are pushing valuable employees away.

Pros

Starting off you have a great starting salary in a competitive technology firm. Working in teams within functional groups is very important and conducive to success there. Very lenient about working from home.

Cons

Seems very hard to vertically move up the pecking order. Input from team is sometimes limited and autonomy will get you nowhere. Always in meetings and actual taken home for the most part.

Advice to Senior Management

Create a younger environment that is more relevant to current culture and times. Seems like ingrained culture has not adapted to current times.