Technology giant Cisco is cutting fewer than 4,000 jobs, or around 5% of its workforce, despite reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue in its fiscal third quarter.
The networking equipment maker said it reducing its headcount in order to change its “cost structure” and invest in AI and cybersecurity.
Cisco’s decision follows a recent trend of tech companies increasingly citing a priority on AI spending as a reason to let employees go. Cloudflare and General Motors have both laid off staff in recent days, despite reporting strong financial results.
Cisco said it plans to invest more in cybersecurity, as the company continues to contend with a slew of security vulnerabilities in its routers and firewalls that have allowed hackers to break into the networks of its corporate customers, including the U.S. government. Cisco last year also experienced a data breach in which customers’ personal information was affected.
In a blog post published Wednesday, Cisco’s chief executive Chuck Robbins touted the company’s “record revenue” and “double-digit growth,” while acknowledging that the company was making strategic investments “in our employees’ use of AI across the company.”
According to public filings, Robbins was slated to earn more than $52 million in executive compensation during 2025. A Cisco spokesperson did not return a request for comment, or say, when asked by TechCrunch, if Robbins plans to reduce his compensation.
This is the latest round of job cuts at Cisco in recent years. The company laid off thousands of employees during two separate layoffs in 2024, and cut 150 jobs in 2025.
