Cisco Layoffs 2026: Numbers, Timeline & What Is Known

This page is part of our tech layoffs tracker and records what Cisco has disclosed about its 2026 job cuts: the announced numbers, the timeline, the units named in reports, and the company's official statements. Every figure is sourced; where Cisco has not disclosed a number, that is stated rather than estimated.

2026 timeline

How many jobs are affected

Cisco's own framing is fewer than 4,000 roles, less than 5% of its global workforce; most press coverage rounds this to "about 4,000" or "nearly 4,000." Cisco has not published an exact global figure, so the precise count between roughly 3,500 and 4,000 is not publicly known. The only exact numbers on record are the California WARN filings: 471 positions across San Jose, Milpitas, and San Francisco. Within those filings, software engineers are the largest single group — 56 software engineer positions plus 39 software engineering technical leader roles.

Units affected

Cisco did not publish a unit-by-unit breakdown. Based on WARN filings and reporting from Fierce Network and others, the exposure concentrates in:

• Legacy switching and routing — traditional campus and enterprise networking teams, as demand shifts toward software-defined and AI data center fabrics.
• On-premises collaboration — older collaboration and communications teams being consolidated as customers move to cloud services.
• Software engineering — the largest identified role category in the California filings.
• Overlapping functions post-Splunk — sales operations, support, and engineering functions that duplicate roles absorbed in the 2024 Splunk acquisition have seen consolidation, per The Workers Rights.

The areas Cisco named as investment destinations — silicon, optics, security, AI, and quantum networking — are hiring rather than shrinking.

Official statements

CEO Chuck Robbins, on the earnings call: "The companies that will win in the AI era will be those with focus, urgency, and the discipline to continuously shift investment toward the areas where demand and long-term value creation are strongest." CFO Mark Patterson stated the move was not savings-driven but about "realigning resources" around silicon, optics, security, and AI, as reported by TheStreet. Cisco said affected employees receive pro-rated fiscal 2026 bonus payments, job placement support, and one year of access to Cisco University courses and certifications.

The restructuring context

The cuts landed in Cisco's strongest quarter in years. Q3 FY26 revenue was $15.8 billion, up 12% year over year, with net income up 35% to $3.4 billion. Cisco booked $1.9 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers in Q3 alone, bringing the fiscal-year-to-date total to $5.3 billion, and management guided to roughly $9 billion in AI orders for the full fiscal year. The restructuring is a portfolio shift, not a response to weak demand: capital and headcount are moving from legacy hardware lines into AI data center networking, custom silicon, optics, and security.

Prior rounds: 2024

This is Cisco's third major reduction in three years. In February 2024 the company cut about 4,000 jobs, roughly 5% of its workforce, per Data Center Dynamics. A second 2024 round announced in August and executed from September cut about 5,600 jobs, roughly 7%, as covered by TechCrunch and Business Standard — close to 10,000 combined for the year. Both rounds followed the $28 billion Splunk acquisition, which closed in March 2024, and both were framed around the same AI-and-security pivot as the 2026 round.

What this means for Cisco-gear customers

Cisco has not announced changes to product support, TAC operations, or published end-of-life schedules as part of this restructuring. Support contracts and hardware warranties are unaffected. The practical signal is directional: the legacy campus switching and routing lines where cuts concentrate are the same lines receiving less investment, so organizations running older Catalyst or ISR fleets should track end-of-sale and end-of-support notices more closely than before. Teams that lost internal Cisco-certified staff to the broader market churn can cover monitoring and incident response through a network operations center service rather than replacing headcount. Reductions at other vendors are tracked on our tech layoffs page, including the Amazon layoffs record.

FAQ

How many employees did Cisco lay off in 2026?

Fewer than 4,000, by Cisco's own description — less than 5% of a workforce of roughly 80,000. The exact global number has not been disclosed. California WARN filings account for 471 of those positions.

When were the 2026 Cisco layoffs announced?

May 13, 2026, alongside Q3 FY26 earnings. Employee notifications began May 14, 2026, and the reduction executes during Cisco's fiscal fourth quarter.

Which Cisco units were hit hardest?

No official breakdown exists. Reporting and WARN filings point to legacy switching and routing, on-premises collaboration, software engineering roles, and functions overlapping with Splunk. Silicon, optics, security, and AI teams are the stated investment areas.

Why is Cisco cutting jobs during a record quarter?

Management describes it as reallocation, not savings: moving investment from legacy hardware lines into AI infrastructure, custom silicon, optics, and security, where Cisco booked $5.3 billion in fiscal-year-to-date AI orders from hyperscalers.

How many people did Cisco lay off in 2024?

About 4,000 in February 2024 and about 5,600 in the round announced that August — close to 10,000 combined, or roughly 12% of the workforce across the year.

Does the restructuring affect Cisco product support?

No support or end-of-life changes were announced with the restructuring. Existing support contracts and TAC operations continue unchanged; end-of-sale notices for legacy product lines remain the thing to watch.