Cisco confirmed it will cut 6,500 jobs as part of its plan to reduce operating expenses by USD 1 billion. Around 2,100 employees have already agreed to a voluntary early reitrement, and the remainder will be redundancies. Cisco noted that the job cuts also include a 15 percent reduction of vice president level and above employees. Overall, this represents a reduction of around 9 percent of Cisco's regular full-time workforce. All affected employees will receive severance pay and outplacement assistance. North American staff will get their notice in early August, with staff affected in the rest of the world subject to local consultation periods. Cisco expects the job cuts to cost a total USD 1.3 billion in severance and other charges, of which around USD 750 million will be recognized during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and the remaining balance during fiscal 2012. Other restructuring charges are also expected, the company said. Cisco also announced an agreement for the sale of its set-top box manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico, to Foxconn Technology Group.
