Cisco lined up to cut 5,000 – 10,000 jobs

To remove $1bn per year from operating costs Cisco are expected to cut 7-14% of their 73,400 workforce, in a move reminiscent of their last large cull back in 2001/2002.

This time round we understand the cuts are due to a) competitors such as Juniper, HP and Huawei taking market share from their main switch and router business, combined with b) industry wide acceptance that they have been over-staffed for quite some time.

Up to 7,000 of these jobs are likely to be cut within the next 6 weeks, as Cisco focus on projected growth areas. This follows their management re-org in May to speed their decision making process. Cisco’s Karen Tillman announced “We will provide additional detail on the cost reductions, including lay-offs, on our next earnings call on August 11“.

For more information you may wish to look at Bloomberg, FT or Yahoo Finance.