Cisco Systems to lay off more than 4,000 workers in latest sign of tighter times in tech

Internet networking pioneer Cisco Systems is jettisoning more than 4,000 employees. It's the latest to join the parade of technology companies in a job-cutting trend that has helped boost their profits and stock prices. But the trend has also served as a sobering reminder of the job insecurity hanging over an industry increasingly embracing artificial intelligence. The mass layoffs announced Wednesday in conjunction with Cisco’s latest quarterly results represent about 5% of its worldwide workforce of 84,900 people. The purge follows Cisco’s late 2022 cutbacks that shed 5,000 workers and ahead of its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk. The double whammy of two big layoffs in two years also has been a phenomenon affecting other prominent technology companies