Cisco to Cut Thousands More Jobs as It Shifts Focus to AI and Cybersecurity

Cisco Systems Inc., the U.S. networking giant, is set to lay off thousands of employees in a second round of job cuts this year as it shifts focus to AI and cybersecurity. The announcement, expected with its Q4 results, follows February’s reduction of 4,000 positions.

Cisco Prepares for Second Major Layoff in 2024, Shifting Focus to AI and Cybersecurity Growth

According to sources familiar with the matter, Cisco, a U.S. networking equipment manufacturer, will eliminate thousands of positions in a second round of redundancies this year as it transitions to higher-growth sectors such as AI and cybersecurity.

The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly, indicated that the number of individuals affected may be comparable to or slightly more significant than the 4,000 employees Cisco terminated in February. Cisco will announce the announcement as early as August 7 with its fourth-quarter results.

In February, Cisco, headquartered in San Jose, California, announced an employment reduction. Reuters was the first to report on the matter.

According to its annual filing, the organization employed approximately 84,900 individuals as of July 2023. The February layoffs are not included in that figure.

Cisco did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Sluggish demand and supply-chain constraints have challenged Cisco, the world's largest manufacturer of routers and switches that manage internet traffic.

According to Reuters, this has necessitated the company's diversification of operations, as evidenced by its $28-billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk in March. By increasing its subscription business, the acquisition will decrease the company's dependence on one-time equipment sales.

Cisco Boosts AI Investment with $1 Billion Fund Amid Industry-Wide Cost-Cutting and Layoffs

The company has been striving to integrate AI products into its product line and reaffirmed its goal of generating $1 billion in AI product orders by 2025 in May. In June, it established a $1 billion fund to invest in AI ventures, including Scale AI, Mistral AI, and Cohere. At that time, the organization disclosed that it had executed 20 AI-related investments and acquisitions over the previous few years.

The most recent redundancies result from the technology industry's efforts to reduce costs to compensate for substantial investments in artificial intelligence this year.

According to data from the monitoring website Layoffs. Fyi, over 126,000 individuals have been terminated from 393 technology companies since the beginning of the year.

In August, Intel (INTC.O) reduced its personnel by more than 15%, or approximately 17,500 individuals, to revitalize its unprofitable manufacturing business.