Cisco Cuts 5,500 Jobs as Networking Demand Normalizes
Cisco announced it would lay off approximately 5% of its workforce -- about 5,500 employees -- as enterprise customers digested a backlog of networking equipment orders and the company pivoted toward AI-driven networking and security.
Why Did This Happen?
Customers who over-ordered during the supply-chain crisis were now working through excess inventory
Order backlog normalization led to sequential revenue declines for the first time in years
Strategic acquisition of Splunk for $28B required integration and role consolidation
Shift toward recurring-revenue software model demanded different skill sets across the organization
Impact Analysis
The layoffs affected sales, engineering, and operations teams across San Jose, Research Triangle Park, and global offices. Cisco took a $600M restructuring charge and redirected investment toward AI networking fabric, security analytics, and observability. The Splunk integration became the centerpiece of Cisco's enterprise AI security strategy.
Affected by this layoff?
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