Cisco cuts thousands of jobs, 7% of workforce, as it shifts focus to AI, cybersecurity

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Cisco Systems says it is planning to lay off 7% of its employees. That’s its second round of job cuts this year as the company shifts its focus to more rapidly growing areas in technology, such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The company based in San Jose, California, did not specify the number of jobs it is cutting. It had 84,900 employees as of July 2023. Based on that figure, the number of jobs cut would be about 5,900. The networking equipment maker said in June that it would invest $1 billion in tech startups like Cohere, Mistral and Scale to develop reliable AI products.