It’s a Cisco- worldwide issue. The ONLY people being laid off are ICs, certification push is also for ICs, performance improvements are also for ICs,
while managers, directors, VPs slack their way…..
At executive level, nobody cares about having multiple directors/VPs reporting to
Each other. They are too comfortable not needing to lift a finger, why would they ever leave a comfortable job.
We all know nobody directors/ managers are ever on a chopping block.
14 replies (most recent on top)
@cp The worst are the Business Architecture Directors, Principal Architects, and Business Development teams. Many lack the necessary technical certifications and technical skills, yet they take credit for the hard work of technical teams to make it appear as though they’ve achieved results. ELT and leadership only seem to care about spreadsheet numbers and charts. It is high time ELT leadership analyzes what these Directors and Principal architects/business teams actually contribute to the business in terms of direct product impact with their skillsets. At Cisco, Principal Architects often act as high level project managers who push ICs to do the work; they claim the success for themselves and blame the ICs if the project flops. In both scenarios, leadership avoids accountability, shielding themselves from layoffs while continuing to take credit from other technical teams. That’s how Cisco works.
@fq yo.. i am IIT hired by my friend(SrDir) as g12 in DC and got promoted to g13(DIR) in less than 6months(back in 201x for no reason) and I recommended my classmate for SrDIR role above me and once he came in, i promoted all my IIT alumni to DIRs, i build my empire at Cisco, you do not even know it and process allows it, we create no new products just piggy back on previous product evolution(free money man!! and i get to invite all my family and friends on L1 visa that they get their GC quick)..
@fm sir/mam please grow up.. if you find parasites you already found the hosts. finding parasite is more valuable than finding hosts.
@dm Its funny how you say it (you must be a parasite)... What about those worthless parasites climb corporate ladder during their 10+ years at Cisco? They are more valuable in Creating Systems than people who really create hw/sw systems that add to reasonable bottom line cash flow?
So many people in my reporting chain have been at Cisco over ten years and some almost twenty. Its nice to reward loyalty and everything, but at some point they just represent old thinking, old habits, yesterday's news.
At ten years, employees should be required to get an appointment to argue for their continued employment in front of the BOD. Ninety five percent wouldn't even get a time slot, and the remaining percentage who get heard should have a ten percent acceptance rate. If you are at ten+ years you are rotting the org and your own resume. At some point long tenure becomes a liability
These execs just talk nonsense all day. They pull data from Salesforce to make themselves look good, like they personally closed all those deals on the front line. They grab all the credit, but take zero responsibility. Cisco wasn’t like this 10–20 years ago.
so be it! I could justify this approach if front line managers sorry "leaders" could coach and mentor mid or low skilled IC's and make them high performing skilled IC's but most are useless and just copy and paste long slops of text from circuit
@aa There's real truth to this. All Directors do is to delegate responsibilities to their teams, yet remain largely insulated from performance accountability with no KPIs to meet, and rarely at risk during layoff rounds. The hard work gets done by those below them, while leadership enjoys the shield of organizational hierarchy
Cisco goes above and beyond in recognizing, protecting and promoting individuals who bring absolutely nothing to the table. That’s a fact.
Look at most directors, managers in your org, these are below average performers who can’t write a single line of code or who understand absolutely nothing about any Cisco product.
@am how are managers being evaluated? Anything that makes you think, they are getting evaluated differently?
ICs are getting evaluated more objectively. Did you do this task? Did you get this analysis? Did you get certified? Did you upskill in this area?
There are no objective evals for management. It’s just did your team do their best? yes! They did amazingly well. Done manager evaluation complete. The manager says he did a good job, so he did.
I see no signs of performance pressure on management. In fact, the most laziest managers get promoted, most laziest senior managers who literally can’t name one Cisco product gets promoted to directors.
That’s the kind of world we are in at Cisco.
Don't be a mo--n. Managers are as expendable as ICs and they know it. The question is how far and how much longer are those managers going to keep covering the incompetence and arrogance of reports. Yep, shouldn't have made your manager mad and done your jobs instead of being fooled into believing you are that engineer. You probably aren't and should look at it that way and get busy, either at csco or elsewhere. Accountability everywhere but sr director and up is coming. Shame the board is too stupid to see every level from CR to LC and 2 levels below should be fired, not retire but fire them.
Cisco has leadership?
My leadership could all be replaced with Claude Pro/GPT premium
They haven't spoken to a customer since 2007
Great point
I have no idea what my director or se director do all day