Tech Layoffs: Cisco to Cut Thousands of Jobs in February 2024, Says Report

In the big tech layoffs news this week, US company Cisco is planning to cut thousands of jobs, says a report in Reuters. The network giant based in San Jose (Silicon Valley) in California will be restructuring its business, the report said. 

Sources told Reuters that as part of the restructuring process, thousands of employees from its around 85,000 workforce could be asked to leave the company. 

Cisco will now focus on “high-growth areas” and its software products like cybersecurity, while cutting the flab.

The tech company was expected make an announcement on or by February 14 about the number of employees being let go. Cisco will reportedly be laying off 4,000 employees.

Back in November 2022 as well, during an earnings call, Cisco’s restructuring had affected about 5 percent of its employees. In that round of layoffs, Cisco paid $600 million in severance packages and other charges.

In the past two years post the lockdown in the pandemic, companies such as Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Zoom, Nokia, Ericsson, and several others announced job cuts to manage rising costs.

Cisco revenue and profit forecasts for its networking equipment were not so positive, says the report. The reason given was that "customers are currently focused on installing and implementing products in their environments".

The network company also needs to fix its supply chain issues.

An official statement from Cisco is awaited.