Cisco to cut nearly 4,000 jobs

Cisco Systems said on May 13 it would cut fewer than 4,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year as the company shifts spending toward artificial intelligence, silicon, optics and security. The move came alongside stronger-than-expected quarterly results and a higher annual revenue forecast, underscoring that the cuts were part of a restructuring rather than a response to a near-term sales shortfall. CEO Chuck Robbins said in a company post that “hard decisions” were needed on investment, organization and costs. Cisco disclosed the plan in a regulatory filing the same day. ### How many jobs is Cisco cutting, and when do notifications start? Cisco said the reduction would amount to fewer than 4,000 jobs, or less than 5% of its total employee base. Robbins wrote that most notifications would begin on May 14 and would continue globally in line with local laws and regulations. Cisco had about 86,200 employees as of July 26, according to reporting based on the company’s disclosures. (sec.gov) May 13 was the date Cisco paired the restructuring with its fiscal third-quarter earnings release and an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing said the company expects to incur up to $1 billion in charges tied to the plan, with about $450 million expected in the fourth quarter and the remainder in fiscal 2027. (crn.com) ### Why is Cisco making cuts while revenue is rising? Cisco reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $15.84 billion for the period ended April 25, up 12% from a year earlier, according to company disclosures and reporting citing LSEG estimates. The company also raised its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast to $62.8 billion to $63 billion from $61.2 billion to $61.7 billion. (sec.gov) Robbins said the company was “building from a position of strength” while shifting resources into areas where Cisco sees stronger demand and longer-term value. In his blog post and on the analyst call, he identified silicon, optics, security and AI as the priority areas receiving investment. (networkworld.com) ### What numbers show the AI business Cisco is chasing? Cisco said AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers reached $1.9 billion in the fiscal third quarter, up from $600 million a year earlier. Year-to-date AI infrastructure orders totaled $5.3 billion, exceeding Cisco’s earlier fiscal 2026 expectation, and Robbins said the company now expects about $9 billion for the full year. (networkworld.com) CNBC reported on May 14 that Robbins described the market as a “networking supercycle” driven by demand for AI systems and related equipment. On the same day, he said Cisco needed a “rapid reallocation of resources” because of the speed of change in the market. ### Which parts of Cisco’s business are growing fastest? Cisco told analysts that networking product orders grew by more than 50% in the third quarter. (networkworld.com) Robbins said the gains were led by triple-digit growth in service-provider routing and compute, along with strong increases in data-center switching, campus switching, wireless, enterprise routing and industrial internet-of-things products. (cnbc.com) Acacia, Cisco’s optics business, posted more than $1 billion in third-quarter orders and is on track for more than 200% growth in fiscal 2026, Robbins said. Cisco also said it shipped more than 750,000 units of 400G coherent pluggable optics and 40,000 units of 800G coherent pluggable optics. (networkworld.com) ### What did Cisco say happens next? Robbins said the job notifications would begin on May 14 and continue by country under local legal requirements. Cisco’s 8-K said the company expects to recognize roughly $450 million of restructuring charges in the current quarter, with the rest falling into fiscal 2027. (networkworld.com) Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue is expected to be $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion, according to Bloomberg’s summary of the company’s outlook, and Cisco’s next milestones will be the booking of those charges and the completion of the workforce reduction during the quarter ending in July. (bloomberg.com) (crn.com)