Cisco is the latest tech giant to cut jobs, after CEO Chuck Robbins told CNBC that he "doesn't want to get rid of a bunch of people right now."
Cisco is the latest tech giant to cut jobs, after CEO Chuck Robbins told CNBC that he "doesn't want to get rid of a bunch of people right now."
According to documents filed with the California Department of Employment Development, Cisco is laying off 221 people at its Milpitas and San Francisco offices. The majority of the cuts, about 157 of them, will affect software development positions at the Milpitas office, TechSpot reports .
On August 14, the company's employees received a notice of dismissal, which will take effect on October 13.
The layoffs were announced on the same day that Cisco reported fourth-quarter results. Revenue rose 8% year-over-year to $14.7 billion, and for the full fiscal year 2025, it rose 5% to $56.7 billion.
Additionally, the same week the report was released and the layoffs occurred, Robbins gave an interview to CNBC suggesting that agent-based AI could slow down hiring at the company. However, the CEO also said that AI wouldn’t directly cost people jobs. “I don’t want to get rid of a bunch of people right now. I don’t want to get rid of engineers,” he said.
“I just want our engineers that we have today to innovate faster and be more productive, and that gives us a competitive advantage,” Robbins added.
This is not a new situation for Cisco. The company laid off thousands of workers in 2024 , announcing annual revenue of $10.3 billion, as the company planned to expand its investment in artificial intelligence next year.
Also a week ago, Cisco President Jitu Patel said in an interview with CNN that he disagreed with the idea that artificial intelligence will destroy entry-level jobs.
“In the long run, it’s the stupidest thing a company can do, because you’ve effectively cut yourself off from the flow of new ideas,” he said.
