“Huawei rival” Cisco has laid off nearly 700 people, including two vice presidents

IT House reported on January 9 that networking giant Cisco has laid off nearly 700 employees in the US Bay Area, including 80 in its San Francisco office.

Cisco said it was cutting a total of 673 employees as part of a “limited business reorganization” it announced last November, SFGATE reported. At its headquarters, 371 employees were laid off, including two Cisco vice presidents, the report said. In the Milpitas office, 222 employees were laid off, mostly engineers and technicians. However, it is unclear whether Cisco will make more rounds of layoffs.

The web giant is reportedly cutting 5 percent of its workforce, or more than 4,000 employees, with more than 52 percent of its global workforce based outside the United States.

Cisco said in a statement, “We have not taken this decision lightly and we will provide extensive support to those affected, including a generous severance package.” In its first-quarter 2023 earnings report, Cisco announced revenue of $13.6 billion, up 6% year-over-year.

Cisco Chairman and Chief Executive Chuck Robbins did not disclose any details about the layoffs other than to say that some business rationalizations are underway.

As the two giants in the field of global network equipment today, Cisco and Huawei “forged bridges” in court over patent infringement issues 20 years ago, and banned the sale of Huawei equipment in the United States. Huawei then promoted the establishment of its own network certification system and well known to the outside world. Huawei has many competitors in the United States, but in the 58-page investigation report of the Permanent Special Intelligence Committee of the US House of Representatives 10 years ago, the only competitor that appeared was Cisco.