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Journalism of Courage
Cisco Systems, one of the largest makers of computer networking equipment, said Wednesday that it would cut 7% of its workforce in its second major round of layoffs this year.
The company did not say how many workers would be affected, but it reported it had 84,900 employees in July 2023, which would amount to around 6,000 jobs cut. In February, Cisco laid off 4,000 employees.
In an earnings report, Cisco posted net income of $2.16 billion in its most recent quarter, down 45% from a year ago, and revenue of $13.64 billion, down 10%. Still, the company exceeded Wall Street expectations, and its stock was up nearly 6% in after-hours trading.
Like other big tech companies, Cisco has raced to take advantage of an industry-wide shift into artificial intelligence. While Cisco has long been one of Silicon Valley’s largest companies, and briefly the world’s most valuable publicly traded company during the dot-com boom, it has been overshadowed in recent years by companies offering cloud computing services to big corporate customers.
Still, the company, which is based in San Jose, California, has managed to be very profitable through the years. In March, it closed its deal to acquire cybersecurity and analytic company Splunk for $28 billion.
In a statement Wednesday, Chuck Robbins, Cisco’s chair and CEO, said the company plans to further integrate Splunk into its products. It will also combine its networking, security and collaboration departments into one organization led by Jeetu Patel, Robbins said. Jonathan Davidson, Cisco Networking’s general manager and executive vice president, will become an adviser to Robbins.
