Horrible and Toxic Management Chain - Anonymous employee Cisco Employee Review

1.0
21 Oct 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are no real perks here — not in career growth, not in leadership, not in work culture. If you want to damage your mental health, hurt your career, and waste years of your potential, then by all means, join this company. Otherwise, stay far away.

Cons

If I could give this company a rating of -20, I would.Cisco used to be a great place to work about four years ago. It was full of talented, motivated, and genuinely smart people who made the company what it was. But those people are gone. Over the past few years, almost every capable and talented employee has left for better opportunities — and what remains is a mix of toxic, incompetent management and a completely broken culture. The management chain is horrible and toxic from top to bottom. HR is useless — they exist only to protect management and maintain power, not to support employees or ensure fairness. Performance, hard work, and results mean absolutely nothing here. The only thing that matters is internal politics and toxic relationships among certain managers. Even after laying off people twice a year, Cisco still keeps unqualified and unprofessional managers who don’t even understand the basics of their own jobs. They make constant mistakes, cause financial losses, and face zero accountability. Meanwhile, employees who work hard, bring measurable results, and actually care about their projects are ignored, mistreated, and eventually forced to leave due to burnout and stress. If you’re looking for growth, mentorship, or a place where your talent will be recognized — this is not it. Cisco will not help you grow; it will drain you mentally and emotionally until you decide to leave. What’s left is a stagnant environment run by toxic managers who protect each other no matter how much damage they cause. Do yourself a favor — don’t join this company. A company that doesn’t value its people, its true talent, or the employees who built its success is already in decline. And Cisco’s culture today reflects exactly that.

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4 Jul 2026
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Cons

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4.0
13 Mar 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I decided to wait almost a year after leaving the company before posting a review. The primary reason being is that when you decide to leave an organization it is usually because there is something there that isn't aligning with you or what you want anymore however, the grass is not always greener someplace else. This has been my experience. In fact, the appreciation I have for the company has grown so much in my time away that I would really like to return. The company truly believes on promoting within and as an employee you are encouraged to grow your career within the organization and learn new skills by taking different positions. Benefits are excellent. Cisco is the industry leader for networking and now cloud. It is sometimes easy to forget that on the daily grind but you are working for the company that everyone looks to for network and infrastructure standards. Culture within the business units managing product lines give you a lot of freedom to be innovative and creative in your approach to your role. In most cases you are given a fair amount of autonomy and control over how you do your job provided that it aligns with the strategic objectives. Benefits, 401k match, RSUs and ESPP are amazing. And while the salaries aren't the top of the industry, they are above market and pretty competitive.

Cons

Cisco can be a machine. There isn't an overt demand for all of your time (even the time outside of work) but more of a subtle, slight encouragement to always be on. If you are not careful, you will live, sleep and eat Cisco 24x7. Don't get me wrong, this is 100% a choice and if you are aware of this subtlety in the culture it is very easy to set appropriate boundaries that will be respected by the company and leadership team. If you don't like where you are in Cisco or what you are working on, give it 6 months because you will be reorg'd. While it is sometimes necessary to realign the company to meet competitive threats or market demands, reorganizing the company once a year is excessive and tends to create a distrusting environment for the rank and file which makes being a leader in the organize challenging. There is a loss of momentum and motivation that occurs a few months before and a few months after reorgs so this leaves the company being effective at delivery and execution only about 70% of the time. While Cisco attracts some bright, motivated people the truth of the matter is you are either cut out for the company and its culture or you're not. If you aren't it will be painfully obvious to you and those around you. Sadly as a leader it is hard to cut dead weight from the team and the only really accepted way is via layoffs, which is why the company reorgs once a year despite the company line about the reorgs.

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Cisco Response
10y
Thank you for such a sincere review. We appreciate your feedback and hope you are pleased to see many of our "We Are Cisco" initiatives. Indeed, it can feel like Cisco frequently changes because it is part of our innovative culture. We thank you for your time with us and wish you the best.
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