Cisco to cut nearly 4,000 jobs while increasing AI spending

In short: Cisco says it will cut fewer than 4,000 jobs, about 5% of its workforce, to free up money to invest more in AI and cybersecurity.

What happened

Cisco, a major maker of networking equipment like routers and firewalls (the hardware that helps companies connect to the internet and keep outsiders out), said it is reducing headcount to change its costs and spend more on AI and security.

The cuts come even though Cisco reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its fiscal third quarter. In a company blog post, CEO Chuck Robbins pointed to “record revenue” and “double-digit growth,” and said Cisco is making strategic investments, including in how employees use AI across the business.

Cisco also said it plans to put more money into cybersecurity. The company has faced multiple security issues in recent years, including flaws in products that attackers could use to break into customer networks, and a past data breach that affected customers’ personal information.

This is not Cisco’s first round of layoffs in the past few years. The company cut thousands of jobs in two separate layoffs in 2024, and cut 150 jobs in 2025.

Why it matters

For workers and local economies, layoffs can land even when a company is doing well financially. Cisco’s move also fits a wider pattern in tech, where companies say they are shifting budgets toward AI. For regular people, this can mean more AI-powered products at work and at home, but also job changes as companies reorganize, like a household reallocating money from one bill to another.

Source: TechCrunch AI