More job cuts: Cisco plans to lay off thousands more workers

San Jose-based Cisco Systems plans to lay off thousands more workers in a second round of layoffs this year, according to news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg. The maker of routers and switches wants to focus on higher-growth areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. The number of employees affected could be similar to or slightly higher than the 4,000 Cisco employees laid off in February, according to insiders. Cisco is expected to provide more details on Wednesday when it reports its latest quarterly results.

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A Cisco spokeswoman cited “a cautious macroeconomic environment, continued absorption of large product inventories by our customers, and continued weakness in the service provider market” as reasons for the February layoffs. Cisco’s biggest new competitor in the entry-level market is Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). That’s especially true after its planned acquisition of Juniper Networks, if antitrust regulators approve the merger as it has signaled.

Cisco follows in the footsteps of other tech companies that have recently laid off thousands of workers. Intel, for example, announced last week that it was laying off 15,000 workers. The chip giant has been struggling with sluggish sales. Dell is also shedding a number of workers as part of a restructuring of its sales teams. The wave of layoffs in the tech sector has reached its highest point since the dot-com crash a few months ago, according to market watchers. But there have also been signs recently that it is losing steam. According to Layoffs, 397 tech companies have collectively laid off more than 130,000 workers so far in 2024.

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