Cisco Systems – “If you are a long term Cisco employee, prepare to be laid off.”

Despite the public image, John Chambers is an as*hole pimp.

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Good outplacement ? They herd us into this building where they keep surplus equipment. We were considered SURPLUS equipment. A piece of equipment to be disgarded. I don't know how you can considered that to be good outplacement. You have to be joking.

This review is so true! Everyone in the room with me for the July layoff had been at Cisco 9+ years. The HR person read from a script for the benefits info, but when asked questions, she told us to call the HR help line cuz she knew "nothing about benefits, sorry". What a crappy last impression. I hope Cisco implodes.

The SURPLUS people were most likely restuctured to India. If quality falls, or it doesn't work out, the VP who made the decision will be long gone in a new job. No accountability...it makes no difference if you are an employee with tons of skills and loyalty, you don't count anymore.

Where did most of the layoffs happen inside cisco? IT or mktg or sales or testing or operations/mfg?

Just call HR and find out.

I hope they bring back the early retirement option. I need to get the hell out of this mad house. Look at SAS or NetApp if you want a great job and work with great people.

My manager didn't even look me in the face when he laid me off. He was busy reading from the HR slides. If I ever see him again, I will stick a k**fe into him.

Work hard ? No Way. No way will I work to the bone for that f*cker Chambers to get richer. He can shove the market adjacencies up his ass.

John Chambers is illegitimate. A fool.

Distrust, question and where possible fight against illegitimate authority.

Cisco managers are more than willing to throw developers under the bus :-(

"Having Excellent Management
Excellent management, both for projects and people, is a must-have motivation factor. This means no micro-managing, the encouragement of independent thinking, knowing what it takes to build quality software, quick decision making, and a willingness to take a bullet for the team when product development tries to shorten the schedule
These are the traits of an amazing software manager; the traits of a manager whose team would bathe in boiling oil to defend her, and work all-nighters to prove her right. When a manager takes bullets for the team, good developers tend to return the favor and then some. It creates an almost cult-ish loyalty, and the results are not only motivated developers, but insanely good software."

I'm actually interviewing for a job with Cisco at the moment, and while all the people I've met so far seem nice and smart, i'm very alarmed by everything I've been reading on here. I hope the execs at Cisco are reading these posts, because such issues will become a serious detriment for recruiting and retention as the economy picks up. Regarding Cisco's stated desire to move into 30+ "market adjacencies," I have a hard time believing that a move out of its core competencies will be successful unless Cisco's people are happy and feel like they have a real stake (financially, emotionally, etc) in the organization. Would love to get some reaction from current and former Cisco employees on this issue.

First of all, Cisco does not move out of core competencies internally, it does so by acquisition. I hope you have gather by now that the company does not value internal innovation. You love to get some reaction ? You are getting them right here. Google
"Brad Reese Cisco" if you want perspective from the business development side. You'll get the real scoop there. Do not believe the hype. Do your own due diligence. That's all I can tell you.

My manager was never ready to take a bullet for the team. He was more than willing to lick the balls of his boss tho ;-)

Managers have fundamentally no understanding nor respect for their engineers

If people are your most valuable asset, why would you get rid of them ?

If people are your most valuable asset, why would you get rid of them ?

You may find it helpful to watch the movie "Up In The Air".

Cisco is a horrible, toxic place to work with management that suits the poem "when it is good, it is very, very good but when it is bad, it is horrid", mostly they are self-serving, incompetent idiots without integrity or compassion. Cisco has a great central marketing and communications team and they invest money in that area rather than product development and innovation. So if you want great marketing training and a budget to match, Cisco is worth it for a few years. If you are technical or an innovator,don't just walk, run away as fast as you can.