Cisco lays off 5,500 employees

Cisco has announced a restructuring that will lay off 5,500 employees. That is about seven percent of the total workforce. The company known for its network equipment wants to focus more on software and services.

The layoffs are part of a reorganization plan that, according to Cisco, is necessary to enable the company to respond more quickly to new developments. Cisco wants to focus more on the cloud services and internet of things markets. The cost savings resulting from the layoffs will be reinvested in growth markets, according to the company.

On Wednesday, reports came out that Cisco wanted to lay off up to 20 percent of its employees. In the presentation of the quarterly figures, in which the company announces the layoff, the company now announces that it is a smaller number. Cisco achieved a turnover of 12.6 billion dollars in the past quarter, or about 11.2 billion euros. Turnover was therefore two percent lower than the same quarter last year.

In 2014, Cisco already cut 6000 jobs, at the time, the reasons were disappointing results and increasing competition. Also in 2013 there were layoffs at the company; then 4,000 jobs were cut. Reorganizations also took place in previous years. Cisco currently has 73,000 employees worldwide.