Cisco Cuts Thousands, Looks to Profit as Enterprises Prep for AI

As it continues to absorb its massive acquisition of Splunk, the restructuring of Cisco continues apace. 

On Wednesday evening’s earnings conference call, Cisco executives framed this year’s second layoff both as a market inevitability and a sign that its management team is operating at peak efficiency.

Scott Herren, Cisco’s CFO, said this round of cuts, which will reduce Cisco’s workforce by 7%, is “not about cost savings” but “finding efficiencies across the company” so it can “pivot more resources” into its AI, cloud and cybersecurity businesses. 

Herren said to “think of it as reallocating versus being in pursuit of cost savings.”

Earlier this year, Cisco cut about 4,000 jobs, and, in 2023, Splunk axed about 500 and Cisco cut a few hundred more as the two companies combined. Splunk’s $28 billion acquisition by Cisco, closed earlier this year. 

Cisco employed around 84,900 at the end of its last fiscal year (July 2023), so the new round of cuts will hit somewhere between 5,500 and 6,000 people. 

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