More than 600 jobs to go at Cisco

Another round of employees at Cisco Systems reportedly got pink slips on Thursday as the company laid off several hundred employees as part of its plan to cut costs and realign its business.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that between 600 and 700 Cisco employees were laid off at the company's headquarters in San Jose, California. The company also cut jobs at branch offices in other parts of the US. The Wall Street Journal cited sources close to the company.

A spokesman for the company told the Wall Street Journal that Cisco was "doing everything possible to minimise the impact on employees affected by the limited restructuring".

Like all companies, Cisco, which makes networking equipment that supports the internet and provides communications for large companies, has seen sales slump as a result of the global recession. The company said earlier this year that it was likely that it would cut between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs as it realigned its business to focus on newer more profitable business segments. The cuts were expected to be completed at the end of the company's fiscal year, which ends this month.

In February, Cisco said it cut about 250 jobs at its San Jose headquarters. Cisco had 66,558 employees at the end of April. Despite the cuts, Cisco's CEO John Chambers has said publicly that he believes the worst of the recession is over. But he noted that it could take some time before spending returns to high levels. Wall Street will be watching the company's next earnings call very carefully to see signs that the bottom has been reached. Cisco will report fiscal fourth quarter and end of year earnings on 5 August after the market closes.

Original article: Cisco cuts another 600-plus jobs from CNET News.com