Cisco says 15 percent of those cut were at VP and higher levels. The whole culling represents a 9 percent reduction in force -- a number that will mean more to the investors who have watched their Cisco shares stagnate over the past decade than to those who are emptying their desks into boxes this evening.
Cisco says about $750 million of the charges against earnings incurred by the layoffs will be recognized during its fourth quarter, which ends in July.
Why it matters
Cisco's efforts to relieve its bloating (and investor nausea) have been fairly well documented. This is a big step in the process of cleaning up a confusing enterprise and making it easier to understand and less tied to the whims of the consumer marketplace.
For more
- Chambers Promises a Simpler Cisco
- Cisco May Cut 5,000 Jobs
- Cisco's Early Retirements Begin
- Cisco Preps for Layoffs
- Cisco's Profits Shrink in Q3
— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading
Early on, someone had told me Cisco was targeting 5,000 to 15,000 cuts. 5,000 seemed reasonable; 15,000 seemed way too high.
6,500 doesn't feel that surprising. I still wonder, though, if Cisco is cutting more than it ought to, just to appease Wall Street.
The total of 11,500, including Juarez, is more than I'd expected. But then again, I didn't realize Cisco had 5,000 people there -- now that I know that, selling the set-top plant was a no-brainer.