Cisco's philosophy is that the best way to get high productivity is to keep employees guessing and afraid. They do this by having very large annual layoffs. And it absolutely works, everyone scrambles to meet deadlines and holds everyone else's feet to the fire to do the same, no leniency is afforded anywhere. No deadlines slip unless it literally breaks and then everyone scrambles to make sure someone else gets blamed instead of themselves. Someone is going to be laid off next July, you better make sure you don't give anyone reason to think it should be you.
I've never seen a company treat folks so horribly, everyone was fighting for survival. Not many companies could survive long doing this in high tech, where the economy is so hot. I worked with surprisingly great people who could get another job in a minute if they wanted to be in San Francisco or Boston. However, Cisco offers an amazing ability to work from home. This is a powerful incentive for employees with families, working in areas with bad commutes, or in a geography with few other job options. Many people use this remote access to relocate to cheaper parts of the country and take their higher pay with them, you can get an amazing standard of living this way.
But be warned, the price for taking this remote work benefit is living in fear and dread every day. I held on through three layoffs and finally moved back to the Bay Area when I heard the fourth layoff was coming. The strain of being at this place was too great. Terrible company to work for, I'll never work for them again. Think twice before you take their faustian bargain.
