Cisco Layoffs by Year: $7.9B in Restructuring Charges Since 2011, and Staff Down 8,000 in Two Years

Cisco layoffs by year, as of November 12, 2026: the latest round is the May 13, 2026 plan, fewer than 4,000 jobs (under 5%) with up to $1 billion of charges. Cisco’s 10-Ks show $7.9B in restructuring charges across fiscal 2011 to 2026, and year-end staff down 8,000 in two years to 82,400. California WARN files hold 7,986 Cisco workers since 2014.

Cisco’s fiscal year ends in late July, so FY2026 runs from July 27, 2025 to July 25, 2026. Bars from fiscal 2011 are the “restructuring and other charges” line in operating expenses, as first reported. Hatched bars are earlier programs described in the annual report. Fiscal 1998 staff is as of September 18, 1998. Numbered red markers sit on the fiscal year in which Cisco announced a plan; the list gives the job count or share it stated.

Key findings

1. Cisco has charged $7.9B to restructuring from fiscal 2011 through fiscal 2026, under 11 plans, and only one year (fiscal 2022, $6 million) was close to zero.
2. Year-end staff fell from 90,400 in fiscal 2024 to 82,400 in fiscal 2026, a net drop of 8,000 that is the largest two-year fall in Cisco’s 10-K record back to 1999.
3. The May 13, 2026 plan put $511 million of charges into a single quarter (the three months to July 25, 2026), against $182 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2026.
4. California WARN notices cover 19% of the jobs announced in Cisco’s six plans since 2014: 5,878 workers against about 31,338 jobs.
5. Every Cisco WARN notice we found is in California: 37 rows and 7,986 workers from September 2014 to June 2026, at San Jose (6,223), Milpitas (1,296) and San Francisco (467).
6. The United States share of Cisco staff fell from 48.1% to 46.3% between fiscal 2024 and 2026, so about 67% of the net drop was American jobs (our arithmetic on Cisco’s rounded shares).
7. Charges per announced job have risen: about $104,000 in the August 2013 plan and $146,000 in the August 2024 plan, and up to $250,000 if the 2026 plan reaches its $1 billion ceiling.

Cisco layoffs by year: the full table

One row per fiscal year, from the 10-K filed each September. Click a blue heading to sort. Net change is hires minus exits, acquisitions included, so it is not a layoff count. The WARN column counts California notice workers by Cisco fiscal year.

*Fiscal 2001: restructuring costs and other special charges, of which $397 million was the workforce reduction. Fiscal 2009: $138 million early retirement plus about $125 million severance, recorded inside operating expenses and cost of sales. “None disclosed” means the filings we read describe no new workforce program that year. California’s file starts in July 2014, so fiscal 2014 and earlier show “No file”. Fiscal 2012 net change includes about 5,000 jobs that left with the Juarez, Mexico plant sale.

Cisco layoffs history: every plan since 2001

Each plan below has its own 8-K under Item 2.05, the SEC item for exit costs, except the fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2020 plans, which appeared only in the 10-K (estimated at $600 million and $300 million, with no job count). The final column checks the plan against California: workers on WARN notices dated within 12 months of the announcement or until the next plan, whichever came first.

Where Cisco gave only a percentage, jobs are that share of the prior year-end headcount: 5% of 83,300, 5% of 84,900 and 7% of 90,400. Fiscal 2017 uses the 10-K’s “up to 6,600”, raised from 5,500 in the 8-K. Charges include severance, early-retirement pay and, in some plans, real estate and asset write-downs, so the per-job column is not a severance figure. The 2001 per-job figure uses the $397 million workforce charge and the 6,000 planned.

Does WARN agree with the filings?

Grey: jobs announced (or implied by Cisco’s percentage). Blue: workers on California WARN notices in the window. The 2026 plan’s window is still open.

Partly, and the gap is the point. Across the six plans the California file can test, 5,878 workers appear on notices against about 31,338 jobs announced, or 19%. Three things explain most of the rest, each checkable. First, Cisco’s staff is mostly outside the United States: 46.3% American at the end of fiscal 2026, by the 10-K’s own chart. Second, WARN covers only site-level cuts above thresholds, and California requires notice for a layoff of 50 or more within 30 days at an establishment with 75 or more employees, so small cuts at field offices need not appear. A few Cisco rows are below 50 anyway (9, 20, 25 and 42 workers), so Cisco sometimes files under the line. Third, the other state files we read hold no Cisco row at all, including Texas from 2019, Washington from 2004, New York from 2019 and Maryland from 2014, while Georgia, North Carolina’s history and Massachusetts before April 2023 could not be checked.

The timing lines up closely. The first California notice followed the August 17, 2016 8-K the same day, the February 14, 2024 8-K by one day and the May 13, 2026 8-K by 34 days. The August 2024 plan produced a small notice on August 21 (53 workers) and the main one on September 13 (842 workers). Both batches in 2024 hit the same three addresses: 170 West Tasman Drive in San Jose, 560 McCarthy Boulevard in Milpitas and 500 Terry A. Francois Boulevard in San Francisco.

Cisco layoffs per year in California: the WARN record

From September 2014 to June 2026 the California file holds 37 Cisco notice rows totalling 7,986 workers. The largest single date is Sep 22, 2014, with 1,005 workers, during the August 2014 plan. No row after 2016 names more than 563 workers, against 1,005 in 2014 and 899 in 2016, and from 2018 they usually split one cut across San Jose and Milpitas, adding San Francisco from late 2022. The latest rows, dated June 16, 2026, list 236 workers in San Jose, 154 in Milpitas and 81 in San Francisco, effective July 13, 2026. The state’s live sheet we read runs to notices received on Nov 9, 2026 and shows no later Cisco row.

Filer “Cisco Systems, Inc.” in every row. Not counted: four Splunk notices in 2023 (350 workers in San Francisco and San Jose), filed before Cisco bought Splunk in the third quarter of fiscal 2024. No row names Splunk, Meraki, Webex, AppDynamics, ThousandEyes, Duo, Acacia or another Cisco unit after an acquisition.

Where the headcount went: United States and the rest of the world

Solid dots: counts printed in the 10-K, fiscal 2012 to 2020. Hollow dots: Cisco’s printed percentage share times the total, fiscal 2021 to 2026, so they carry rounding of a few dozen people.

Between fiscal 2012 and 2020 Cisco’s American staff stayed in a narrow band, between 36,052 and 39,000. The recent drop is different. From the fiscal 2024 peak, the United States fell by about 5,331 to about 38,151, and the rest of the world by about 2,669 to about 44,249. The 2024 peak itself includes Splunk, acquired in the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Cisco does not say how many people came with Splunk, so the drop since cannot be split between Splunk and the rest of the company. For comparison, IBM’s U.S. headcount is not disclosed at all after 2008, which our IBM layoffs by year analysis treats in detail.

Is Cisco laying off in 2026?

Yes. The fiscal 2026 10-K, filed September 2, 2026, puts the plan’s fourth-quarter charge at $511 million, more than the $450 million first estimated, and says it should be substantially complete by the end of fiscal 2027, which ends in July 2027. That leaves up to $489 million still to come. The quarter-by-quarter record shows how sharp the turn was: $182 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, all from the August 2024 plan, then $511 million in one quarter. The email went out the same afternoon Cisco reported record quarterly revenue of $15.8 billion, the pairing the email itself mentions. Cisco’s results for the quarter to October 2026 were not yet on EDGAR when we checked on November 12, 2026. For how this compares with the rest of the sector, see the 2026 tech layoffs tracker.

Reports we label unconfirmed

What this means for MSPs

The pattern in the filings is regular enough to plan around. Cisco has announced a new plan in August, with fourth-quarter results, in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2024, and the 2026 plan came in May with third-quarter results. Seven of the eight plans since August 2016 said they would run into the following fiscal year (the August 2020 plan was the exception), and the 2026 plan runs to July 2027. Meraki, Webex, Splunk and Duo sit inside the same company but filed no WARN notice of their own in the state files we read, so a quiet WARN file is not evidence that a product team you rely on was untouched. Practical steps, which are advice and not findings: confirm named partner and TAC escalation contacts after each 8-K date, ask your distributor whether partner account managers changed after the June 2026 California notices, and plan renewals so they do not depend on a single Cisco contact in the August to October window. Dell’s fiscal year ends near January 31, so its cuts land on a different calendar, as our Dell layoffs by year report shows.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cisco’s layoff history?

Cisco’s filings show 13 workforce programs since 2001: one in 2001 (about 6,000 jobs), early retirement and cuts in 2009, then 11 numbered restructuring plans from fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2026. Restructuring charges total $7.9B from fiscal 2011 to 2026, and only fiscal 2022 was near zero, at $6 million.

How many employees did Cisco lay off in 2026?

Cisco told employees on May 13, 2026 that the cut would be fewer than 4,000 jobs, under 5% of staff, with most notices from May 14. It charged $511 million to the plan in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 and expects up to $1 billion in all. Year-end staff fell from 86,200 to 82,400.

Why is Cisco laying off 4,000 employees?

Cisco’s 8-K says the May 2026 plan is meant to let it invest in silicon, optics, security and AI. The CEO’s email, sent the same afternoon as record quarterly revenue of $15.8 billion, said Cisco must shift investment to where demand is strongest.

How much severance does Cisco give?

No filing gives a severance formula. The May 2026 email promises pro-rated fiscal 2026 bonuses, a year of Cisco U courses and placement help, which Cisco says led 75% of participants to a new role. Dividing total plan charges by announced jobs gives about $146,000 to $161,000 per job for the last three finished plans, which is our arithmetic and includes non-severance costs.

Did Cisco have layoffs in August 2025?

California has a Cisco WARN notice dated August 13, 2025 for 221 workers in Milpitas and San Francisco. Cisco filed no new 8-K plan that month; its 10-K says the August 2024 plan cost $182 million more in fiscal 2026. We found no filing behind reports of a new 5% cut in August 2025.

Is Cisco laying off in August 2026?

Not in any record we can check as of November 12, 2026. Cisco’s August 12, 2026 results filing carries no Item 2.05, and the newest California notice is dated June 16, 2026, in a state file updated to Nov 9, 2026. Up to about $489 million of the May 2026 plan is still to be charged in fiscal 2027.

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Methodology

References

1. Cisco Systems, Forms 10-K, 1998 to 2026, SEC EDGAR. Accessed November 2026.
2. Cisco, Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (July 25, 2026). Accessed November 2026.
3. Cisco, Form 10-K for fiscal 2025. Accessed November 2026.
4. Cisco, Form 10-K for fiscal 2024. Accessed November 2026.
5. Cisco, Form 10-K for fiscal 2017. Accessed November 2026.
6. Cisco, Form 10-K for fiscal 2012. Accessed November 2026.
7. Cisco, 2001 Annual Report, Exhibit 13. Accessed November 2026.
8. Cisco, 2003 Annual Report, Exhibit 13.1. Accessed November 2026.
9. Cisco, 2009 Annual Report, Exhibit 13.1. Accessed November 2026.
10. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Jul 18, 2011. Accessed November 2026.
11. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Aug 15, 2013. Accessed November 2026.
12. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Aug 14, 2014. Accessed November 2026.
13. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Aug 17, 2016. Accessed November 2026.
14. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Aug 12, 2020. Accessed November 2026.
15. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Nov 16, 2022. Accessed November 2026.
16. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Feb 14, 2024. Accessed November 2026.
17. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, Aug 14, 2024. Accessed November 2026.
18. Cisco, Form 8-K, Item 2.05, May 13, 2026. Accessed November 2026.
19. Cisco, third-quarter fiscal 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1. Accessed November 2026.
20. Cisco, fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1. Accessed November 2026.
21. Chuck Robbins, Our Path Forward, Cisco blog, May 13, 2026. Accessed November 2026.
22. California Employment Development Department, WARN reports. Accessed November 2026.
23. Texas Open Data Portal, WARN notices. Accessed November 2026.
24. Washington Employment Security Department, WARN database. Accessed November 2026.
25. New York Department of Labor, WARN dashboard. Accessed November 2026.
26. WARNTracker, Cisco page (compared, not counted). Accessed November 2026.
27. Layoff Lookout, Cisco page (compared, not counted). Accessed November 2026.