In an attempt to trim costs and open opportunities to hire employees with different talents more in line with shifting market demand, Cisco is cutting 5,500 employees, approximately 7 percent of its workforce, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The San Jose, Calif.-based technology company develops and sells networking equipment. Cisco is seeking to invest savings from the job cuts and better align itself with the market shift favoring software over hardware, according to the report.
Cisco expects to pay $700 million in severance and termination benefits related to the job cuts.
Announcing job cuts in August, at the start of the fiscal year, appears to be a trend for Cisco. In August 2014, the company announced it was laying off 6,000 workers; the year prior, it announced it was laying off 4,000 workers, according to the report.
For the fourth quarter of 2016, Cisco reported a 21 percent profit increase, totaling $2.81 billion.
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