Cisco Firing 1,300 Employees, 2% Of Global Workforce

Tech firm Cisco Systems on Monday announced plans to fire 1,300 workers as part of the company’s plan to combat slowing sales caused by increased competition and a weakened economy.

Firing 1,300 employees is equivalent to 2% of Cisco’s global workforce of 65,000 workers.

In 2011 Cisco fired 10,000 workers in an attempt to save $1 billion annually. The company claims the new job shedding measure will allow the company to simplify its global operations. According to CEO John Chambers the sale of the company’s networking gear has slowed as customers avoid big purchases during a shaky economy.

Cisco at this time has not announced which sectors of the firm will experience cuts. In a statement Cisco announced:

“We routinely review our business to determine where we need to align investment based on growth opportunities. Additionally, we continue to evaluate our organizational structure as part of our plan to drive simplicity, speed of decisions and agility across Cisco.”

Plans to cut 2 percent of its workforce comes after a revenue declining quarter that fell far short of Wall Street expectations while revenues ending July 2012 are expected to rise just 2 percent when compared to the same period of 2011.

Following the announcement Cisco shares traded down 29 cents, nearly 2 percent. The shares closed at $16.07 then fell 20 cents further during extended trading.

Cisco will reveal its current quarter results on August 15.

More job cuts could be in announced in the near future, the company stated:

“Additionally, we continue to evaluate our organizational structure as part of our plan to drive simplicity, speed of decisions and agility across Cisco.”