Cisco is cutting 471 positions across three California offices as part of a broader restructuring initiative announced in May. The layoffs affect employees in San José, Milpitas and San Francisco, according to notices filed with the California Employment Development Department.
The networking and cybersecurity giant previously stated it would eliminate fewer than 4,000 jobs worldwide, representing less than 5% of its workforce. The latest filings offer granular detail on the California roles included in that plan.
Layoffs Spread Across Bay Area Offices
Cisco will eliminate 236 positions in San José, 154 in Milpitas and 81 in San Francisco. Employees received notice on May 14, with terminations scheduled to begin July 13. Some affected workers may leave within 13 days of that date.
The reductions are permanent, as stated in the company’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letters. California law mandates at least 60 days’ notice before a large layoff or facility closure.
Cisco declined to provide additional information beyond the May restructuring announcement, which the company described as an effort to lower costs in certain areas while reallocating resources toward targeted investments.
CEO Chuck Robbins told employees that Cisco expects to benefit from AI growth but reaching that goal requires “making hard decisions — about where we invest, how we’re organized, and how our cost structure reflects the opportunity in front of us.”
Software Engineering Roles Hit Hardest
The layoffs span departments including software development, product management, design and business operations. Software engineers represent the largest single group, with 56 positions eliminated: 34 in Milpitas, 19 in San José and three in San Francisco. Additionally, 39 software engineering technical leader positions will be cut, with 27 in Milpitas.
Other affected roles include 17 engineering product managers, 15 software engineering leaders, 12 directors of software engineering, 12 engineering program managers, nine directors of product management and eight business operations managers. Seven site reliability engineers, seven program managers and seven software quality assurance engineers are also included.
A Cisco business partner executive described the cuts as a familiar pattern, calling it “the regular Cisco cadence” before quarterly earnings announcements. Cisco did not confirm that assessment.
AI Investment Rises Amid Broader Tech Layoffs
The layoffs come as Cisco posts stronger financial results: quarterly revenue of $15.8 billion, its highest for a fiscal third quarter, and net income up 35% to $3.4 billion. The company markets its networking products as critical AI infrastructure, with demand for data centers and AI computing systems boosting spending on networking and cybersecurity.
Nevertheless, many tech firms are cutting staff while increasing AI investment. Meta, Snap, Block, Oracle and Amazon have all announced job cuts this year, with some executives linking workforce changes to automation and AI tools.
US technology companies announced 123,653 job cuts from January to May, a 66% increase from the same period in 2025, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The firm noted that AI was cited more often than any other reason for layoffs, though it questioned whether AI alone explains the broader trend.
Cisco reported approximately 86,200 employees as of July 2025. Its planned global reduction of fewer than 4,000 positions would affect less than 5% of that workforce.