Cisco Systems to further lay off 1,100 employees

Global networking giant Cisco has announced it would extend its restructuring plan to lay off 1,100 more employees.

The technology company had earlier announced the restructuring plan in August 2016 to reinvest in "key priority areas" and part of it was to lay off up to 5,500 employees, or 7 per cent its workforce, Xinhua reported on Thursday.

The extended plan was discussed in Cisco`s third Quarter Earnings report released on Wednesday, with the completion of additional workforce reduction scheduled for the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The company`s 3rd quarter of fiscal 2017 ended April 29.

In the quarterly report, Cisco reported revenue of $11.9 billion in the three-month period, a decline of 1 per cent over the same period of last year, as product revenue went flat and service revenue down 2 per cent; and projected a 4-6 per cent year-over-year drop in the fourth quarter.

Once the world`s largest networking hardware provider, Cisco`s product revenue was led in the third quarter by wireless and security businesses, which increased by 13 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

"We are laser focused on delivering unparalleled value through highly secure, software-defined, automated and intelligent infrastructure," said Chuck Robbins, Chief executive Officer, Cisco.