Cisco Announced 4000 Layoffs the Day It Posted Record Revenue

Cisco said it would cut fewer than 4,000 jobs, under 5 percent of its workforce, after a record quarter with revenue up 12 percent to $15.8 billion.

CEO Chuck Robbins announced the cuts in a blog post, with most notifications set to begin on May 14, 2026.

Robbins framed the cuts as a strategic pivot to accelerate investment in AI, security, and silicon products, with the company's AI infrastructure order target raised from $5 billion to $9 billion for fiscal 2026.

As with many recent tech layoffs, Cisco attributed its job cuts to the growth of AI, though its CFO said the restructuring was not driven by savings.

Cisco expects up to $1 billion in pretax charges from the layoffs, and affected workers will receive prorated fiscal 2026 bonuses and job placement help.

Cisco grew straight through its own downsizing: record fiscal third quarter revenue of $15.84 billion, up 12 percent year over year, announced alongside fewer than 4,000 job cuts, under 5 percent of some 86,000 workers Reuters. Management calls it realignment toward silicon, security and AI, with hyperscaler order expectations lifted to $9 billion from $5 billion for fiscal 2026 and up to $1 billion in restructuring charges to follow. Workers take prorated bonuses and retraining; Chuck Robbins, paid more than $52 million last year, frames the plan as discipline rather than cost saving TechCrunch. AI led all announced American job cuts in April, 21,490 positions, 26 percent of the national total.