I'm a red badge and my agency informed me this was the worst layoff they had seen in 13 years! Ive been with Cisco for 5 years and survived 7 layoffs...S E V E N! Blessing to you all.
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Most if not ALL contractors has been let go as of last friday, 7/29!
I hope you will survive another round or find something new. Is there a 2 year contracting max policy at Cisco? I was told that when manager told me my contract won't renew after 3 months unless they can convert me to full time. I found another job and told my manager and manager told me my 3 month can recount as another 2 year and I can choose to stay and she didn't quite understand all the policies since I'm her first contractor. But our project was ending soon. I enjoyed working for my Cisco managers and at Cisco. I still miss it. We had great teamwork and everyone was nice and helpful.
Thanks everyone for your replies. My best advice is to know your worth. If this door shuts for you its probably for good reason. I had been trying to leave Cisco for two years and kept getting pulled back in for various projects and very little pay increases. Sometimes we get comfortable with that regular paycheck but there are many opportunities out there! Make your connections! I'm off to new adventures and if i really need a job in a few months i can always pick something up, that's the nice thing about being a red badge.
We have been instructed to LR 10-20% of our employees this time both red and blue badge. I have been helping my employees find new jobs at other companies it makes me sick to play this yearly hunger game. Wonder what they would do if none of us showed up on Monday?
1000 views in 4 hours, this is going viral. Who are people who are reading/posting - all Cisco employees? This is nuts...
@fcw there are so many jobs out there it's not even funny - it's a super hot employee friendly market - I'd start with putting together an exit plan
The transition may be tough but w/in 3 months you'll be settled in and just fine. Do not stress out, you'll be just fine.
The allure of Cisco is not around any more - you may as well go work for a much smaller company and get compensated and valued much more
Some things I have learned along the way - no need to stress out....
Look at edX, Coursera, etc for low cost or free classes to update your skills. Like the others said, network with those your know in your network - LinkedIn job searches are private. Check out Dice.com, Indeed.com; the many technical recruiters, etc.
Do not forget to apply with a cover letter tweaked for the job description you are applying for. If you are flexible to do contract while looking full time it is much easier to breathe too. :)
Cisco people have good, transferable skills. You may just need a professional resume / cover letter writer to help you see what that is. Believe in your self and only speak positive things when talking to a potential employer or recruiter.
For a Red badged employee, you must be the luckiest person to dodge 7 rounds of layoffs. I hope you survived this around. Good luck!
You can't manage on what you cannot control. What you can do, is that you can start reaching to your friends and ex-colleagues and look for new job opportunities outside Cisco.
I worked for Cisco almost 13 years, and it was a great company to work for back then. I left the company 4 years ago, and it was the best decision that I ever made without any regrets. All the talented people have already left Cisco, so can you. Don't be last the person onboard on the sinking ship!
Guys, please provide me more information on whats going to happen! I'm not really sure what I'm going to do if I lose my job at cisco. I haven't been able to sleep or eat correctly the last 2 weeks ever since I heard LO rumors... yes, I've been looking for a new job and most employers tell me I have old skills... very worried now! I might have a heart attack soon. I guess this is what happens when I live, sleep and eat cisco!
I did not.
So you survived this round? this is seventh or eighth? And if you have survived this round that tells me it's not a blindfolded Piñata smashing.