Cisco Systems is laying off up to 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 percent of the company’s global workforce, multiple sources close to the company told CRN. Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, and many early retirement packages have already been offered to employees.
The reduced workforce is driven by Cisco’s transition from hardware to software-centric products, requiring different skills from its employees, the report said. Cisco declined to comment.
The company has a history of announcing layoffs at the end of its fiscal year each summer. Cisco will report fiscal Q2 results after the market close on 17 August.
TechCrunch reported additional details on the restructuring, saying managers were being told to reduce costs by 15 percent. "A cost reduction of 15 percent that will include layoffs" is how one source described it to the news website. "Managers either cut costs or cut people." Based on this, lay-offs could number around 10,000, out of Cisco's total workforce of about 72,000 employees.
