On August 14, 2024, Cisco announced significant changes alongside its first-quarter results: the company is undergoing a major restructuring.
What does this mean? Cisco plans to lay off about 7% of its global workforce, which translates to over 5,600 employees losing their jobs.
This restructuring is expected to cost Cisco up to $1 billion in pre-tax charges, which will cover severance and other one-time expenses.
While the company has not specified which departments or regions will be impacted, a list of affected employees was released on September 16.
Cisco operates in 23 African countries, including Angola, Algeria, South Africa, and Nigeria, and anticipates incurring approximately $700 million to $800 million of these costs in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, with the remainder spread throughout the year.
The layoffs will also affect Cisco’s Talos Security team, which focuses on threat intelligence. The company appears to be reallocating resources to strengthen its AI networking and cybersecurity initiatives. Reports suggest that Cisco may have overhired, prompting this shake-up as they realign with their key objectives. Concerns are growing about the possibility of further layoffs, with some asking not if, but when, more cuts might happen.
This announcement follows a previous round of layoffs in February 2024, when Cisco cut 5% of its staff from a total of 84,900 employees in 2023.
