Cisco cuts 5,600 jobs in second round of layoffs in 2024, despite strong financial performance
The company had earlier laid off about 4,000 people.
2024 is shaping to be a tough year for many tech workers, as Cisco announces its second major round of layoffs, letting go of approximately 5,600 employees—around 7% of its global workforce.
This comes just months after an earlier cut that saw about 4,000 people leave the company.
Cisco had hinted at job cuts back in August but left employees guessing about the specifics until mid-September, a delay that fueled frustration and anxiety across teams, according to TechCrunch. As the axe fell, divisions like Talos Security, Cisco's threat intelligence and security research group, were hit.
It’s a move that raises eyebrows, especially given Cisco's strong financial performance. The company reported nearly $54 billion in revenue for 2024, the second-best year in its history. However, Cisco claims the layoffs will allow it to "invest in key growth opportunities" and focus on driving operational efficiency.
At the heart of these changes is Cisco’s ambition to diversify beyond its traditional hardware business. With demand for one-time equipment sales stagnating, Cisco is betting big on subscriptions and AI, industries it hopes will fuel future growth. Its recent $28-billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk and the launch of a $1-billion fund for AI startups highlight this shift. By investing in companies like Cohere, Mistral AI, and Scale AI, Cisco signals its intentions to become a key player in AI-driven technology, even as it slashes jobs in other areas.
But for many, these bold investments clash with the human cost of layoffs. As Cisco pivots to a new strategy, its employees are left picking up the pieces of their disrupted careers. And while CEO Chuck Robbins continues to guide the company in this new direction, his nearly $32 million compensation package in 2023 serves as a stark reminder of the widening gap between corporate leadership and the workforce it impacts.
Cisco is far from alone in this. The entire tech sector is undergoing a period of transformation, with companies including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, SAP and recently Intel having also announced layoffs in 2024. Since the beginning of the year, about 140,000 people have been laid off across 438 tech companies, according to Layoffs.fyi.
In a broader sense, these layoffs are emblematic of an industry-wide shift in resources toward AI and cloud-based services. However, the impact on the human workforce remains a sobering reminder of the cost of progress.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
