Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins confirmed the layoffs in a call with investors, framing them as a necessary shift to fund AI-focused growth. The cuts aren’t new territory for Cisco—this is its third major round of job reductions since 2019, when it slashed 14,000 positions under similar reasoning. Robbins said the company needs to move faster in artificial intelligence, cloud services, and security to compete with rivals like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon. “We’re investing aggressively,” Robbins told analysts. “The market is moving, and we need to be ahead of it.” The announcement came alongside Cisco’s fiscal Q4 earnings, where it posted $15.8 billion in revenue, beating Wall Street estimates and capping off a year where it generated $57.3 billion in total sales. Profits hit $3.8 billion, up 20% from last year, driven by strong demand for its networking gear and cybersecurity tools. But Robbins made clear that AI is now the priority. He pointed to Cisco’s recent $28 billion deal to buy Splunk, a data analytics firm, as proof of its commitment to AI-driven tools. “We’re not just dabbling in AI,” he said. “We’re all-in.” The layoffs will start in October and wrap up by May next year. Cisco didn’t say which teams would take the biggest hits, but Robbins hinted that roles tied to older hardware products or less strategic services would be affected first. The move follows similar plays by tech giants like IBM and Salesforce, which have also cut jobs to reinvest in AI and automation. Cisco’s stock dipped slightly after the news but recovered by the end of the day, closing up 2%. Analysts say investors are more focused on the company’s revenue growth than the layoffs—especially since the cuts are expected to save $1 billion annually once fully implemented. What’s less clear is how these job losses will play out in Cisco’s broader workforce. The company employs around 85,000 people worldwide, and while some roles will disappear, Cisco says it plans to hire in AI, software, and cloud engineering. Robbins stressed that the company isn’t cutting its way to growth. “We’re not trying to shrink,” he said. “We’re trying to get bigger in the right places.” Still, the layoffs add to a growing trend in tech, where companies are prioritizing high-margin software and AI over traditional hardware businesses. Cisco’s networking switches and routers still bring in billions, but AI and cloud services are where the company sees its future. The question now is whether these cuts will pay off. If Cisco can turn its AI investments into products that outpace competitors, the strategy could work. But if demand for its core networking gear keeps falling, the company might find itself playing catch-up instead.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: TechCrunch
  • Published: May 14, 2026 at 14:01 UTC
  • Category: Ai
  • Topics: #techcrunch · #machine-learning · #cisco · #cisco-layoffs-2024 · #cisco-job-cuts-ai

Read the Full Story

This is a curated summary. For the complete article, original data, quotes and full analysis:

Read the full story on TechCrunch →

All reporting rights belong to the respective author(s) at TechCrunch. GlobalBR News summarizes publicly available content to help readers discover the most relevant global news.

Curated by GlobalBR News · May 14, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

A gigante de tecnologia Cisco anunciou a demissão de quase 4 mil funcionários, cerca de 5% de sua força de trabalho global, para redirecionar recursos para investimentos em inteligência artificial, após registrar um faturamento recorde de US$ 15,8 bilhões no último trimestre. A decisão reflete uma tendência crescente no setor de priorizar a IA em detrimento de áreas tradicionais, mesmo com resultados financeiros sólidos, sinalizando uma transformação profunda na estratégia corporativa das empresas de tecnologia.

No Brasil, onde o mercado de telecomunicações e TI é estratégico para o desenvolvimento econômico, a notícia acende um alerta sobre os impactos da automação e da inteligência artificial no emprego. Embora a Cisco não tenha divulgado cortes específicos para o país, a medida pode acelerar discussões sobre requalificação profissional e políticas públicas para amortecer os efeitos da transição tecnológica. Além disso, reforça a importância de o Brasil investir em inovação local para não ficar para trás na corrida global pela IA, especialmente em um momento em que o governo discute o Marco Legal da IA.

A estratégia da Cisco levanta questões sobre o futuro do trabalho no setor e abre espaço para que outras empresas sigam o mesmo caminho, exigindo que governos e instituições de ensino se preparem para formar profissionais capazes de atuar na nova economia digital.