Cisco To Cut 5,500 Jobs In Restructuring Effort
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — Cisco Systems says it will lay off 5,500 employees as the internet gear maker scrambles to adapt to technology changes that have reduced demand for its main products.
The shake-up announced Wednesday means about 7 percent of Cisco's roughly 78,000 workers will lose their jobs beginning this summer.
The purge is the latest example of the upheaval that has rocked some of the world's oldest and biggest technology companies as the relentless march of innovation forces them to head in new directions in search of revenue growth.
In Cisco's case, its business has been hurt as more of its corporate customers rely on remote data centers for their computing needs instead of online networks maintained on their own premises.
According to the company, the cuts would be part of a restructuring measure, focusing on cloud services and other "areas of future growth".
In addition to its Silicon Valley headquarters, Cisco has offices in Los Angeles and Irvine. It wasn't immediately known whether those locations would be affected by the layoffs.
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