I have zero desire to stay here a day longer than I have to, but finding something else has proven impossible so far. The moment an offer comes my way, even if it pays less than my current salary, I’m gone. And it took less than two years to get me to this point. Great job, Cisco, truly.
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The job market where I am is horrible. Any job posted making reasonable salary has over 1000 applicants in a matter if minutes. I know too many people that had salaries from $90k - $125k that can't find any work other than contractor work. Even then it is limited and low pay ($25-$32/hr) because companies have so many applying.
Just take a dump and pray to Peetu. Once he becomes CEO you drop fresh, steamy, sweaty dumps to ascend in your career. Until then hold it and hold on as long as you can!
@OP also your incompetence
Don't forget.
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® 2025
Rank Company Name
1 Hilton
2 Synchrony
3 Cisco
4 American Express
5 NVIDIA
Just leave. Even better if you are laid off with severance
That company gave me gray hair, stomach ulcers (diagnosed by doctor), I was constantly worried about what mood my I***n boss was in each day while he built his kingdom with yes men courtesy of the L1 and H1B friends and family program
F*** THAT
@bq I'll be harsh. The Cisco employees are very, very soft living in la la land.
I left in 2019, but have landed roles in the interim in different tech stacks, nothing to do with Cisco. (Most co-workers think I worked for Sysco when I say the name).
So the experience can be valuable and transferrable, but not to companies in Cisco's direct competitive landscape. The trick is having a broader network of connections that can get you into hiring cycles in other industries. BTW, I am currently 60+ years old and still at it, getting equal/better comp than at Cisco.
Good luck with your future decisions.
@b2 a bit harsh, but here is the reality (and most of the disgruntled here will disagree)
1 - If you leave Cisco before five years you have a chance to make the transition to a new company.
2 - If you have been here 5 to 10 years and leave, there is less than a 50% chance you will make it with the new company. I've had multiple people on my team leave only to fail at their next company. They were not welcomed back to CSCO when they knocking.
3 - If you have been here 10 plus years, you have an 80% chance of failure. That's why a majority of people on this board are grasping for straws. They know they're stuck (or got whacked) and can't find a suitable job. It's a tough pill to swallow, but that's the reality.
Watch the down arrow light up to confirm the sentiment.
Btw - I do agree that most of us here don't want to work the hours that most of our competitors do, so we sit around here dying at the vine.
@OP all the slacking all these years coming to effect now. Closing 3 jiras a month was cool at the time not anymore
"lern 2 code" -G2
@b5 you are right in the recycle bin.
The job market is hot if you have the right skills.
and yet here you are at McCorp
@b2 most don't leave because they lack the skill and drive to succeed in a new environment. 80 hour work weeks are the norm for the top tech companies and most of this crowd will not sign up for that.
The job market is hot if you have the right skills. If you su-k, you are stuck writing messages on a layoff board.
your misery is your own
Effed if you leave, effed if you stay.
But the longer you stay, the worse the effing will be. Cisco's reputation is among the worst in tech now, the only news people see about the company is some reference to a layoff.
Bad news though, we are never going back to 2019's hiring market. Maybe in some other industry, but not boring tech.
Mid-career folks stuck at Cisco will eventually accept the truth of working in tech...there are only three paths:
- FAANG
- Startup lottery
- Learn to weld (I.e. leave the industry)
most of my coworkers will end up on some variation of (3) eventually