Cisco has executed its second round of layoffs for 2024 several weeks after announcing it. In August, it confirmed that it was going to reduce its workforce for the second time this year, after a previous round in February in which around 4,000 workers left the company.
On this occasion, the company spoke of a 7% decrease in its number of employees, although it did not confirm the exact number of layoffs. According to Techcrunch, those affected would be around 5,600, and the restructuring aims to place Cisco in the right position to improve its long-term growth, redirecting resources to areas with the greatest potential for expansion.
Those affected received notice of their departure earlier this week, with Cisco offering no reason for the delay in announcing the job cuts. Among other divisions, the layoffs have affected Talos Security, the company’s security research and threat intelligence division.
According to the company when it announced its staff reduction plans, this second round will allow Cisco to “Invest in key growth opportunities and further boost productivity«. This, when according to the results just published, the year 2024 has been the second strongest for the company since they have records, with annual revenues close to 54 billion dollars. In addition, the CEO de Cisco, Chuck Robbinshas earned a salary of around $32 million in 2023.
Cisco is apparently going to focus on investments in Artificial Intelligence as part of its strategy for the future, and despite having laid off Talos staff, it is also going to focus on cybersecurity. Initiatives of this kind imply Cisco’s shift from its traditional strategy, focused on network equipment, to emerging technologies and subscription-based services.
Chuck Robbins optimistically says the outlook for Cisco is good, and expects demand for its network products to rise again. It appears that inventory adjustments have now been completed, and they are now moving towards a more normalized demand environment.