Exclusive-Cisco to cut thousands of jobs as it seeks to focus on high growth areas -sources

By Utkarsh Shetti and Supantha Mukherjee

(Reuters) -Network giant Cisco is planning to restructure its business which will include laying off thousands of employees, as it seeks to focus on high-growth areas, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The San Jose, California-based company has a total employee count of 84,900 as of fiscal 2023, according to its website.

The company is still deciding on the total number of employees to be affected by the layoffs, one person said.

An announcement could come as early as next week, as the company prepares for its earnings call on Feb. 14.

In November 2022, Cisco announced during an earnings call a restructuring that impacted roughly 5% of its workforce which lead to $600 million in severance and other charges.

Cisco declined to comment.

The move would come at a time when tech companies, including telecom makers Nokia and Ericsson, cut thousands of jobs last year in a bid to lower costs.

Several big tech firms such as Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft have implemented layoffs in recent weeks.

Cisco had cut its full-year revenue and profit forecasts in its previous earnings call, in a sign that demand for its networking equipment was slowing.

It had blamed the weakness on a slowdown in orders in the first quarter, saying "customers are currently focused on installing and implementing products in their environments."

The company has in recent years grappled with supply chain issues and a post-pandemic slowdown in demand, which has hastened its push into software offerings like cybersecurity.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru and Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by Chris Reese)