In a move that underlines the paradox of Silicon Valley’s current moment, tech heavyweights Cisco Systems and Oracle are preparing to shed hundreds of jobs across the Bay Area, even as both companies post bumper earnings.
According to filings with the California Employment Development Department, reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Cisco will cut 221 jobs effective 13 October. The reductions span 157 positions in Milpitas and 64 in San Francisco, across engineering, support and business roles.
Oracle America filed its own WARN notice signalling 101 layoffs at its Santa Clara campus, also due to take effect the same day.
The Chronicle notes that both companies are no strangers to the axe. Cisco has already trimmed more than 9,000 staff in two rounds last year, while Oracle has pared back nearly 200 jobs in Redwood City and more than 160 in Seattle in recent months.
This latest wave suggests the world’s largest enterprise technology providers are continuing to recalibrate, streamlining legacy functions while pouring capital into cloud services and artificial intelligence.
Profits intact
The irony is that the cuts arrive not in crisis, but in profitability. Cisco’s most recent results showed $14.7 billion in quarterly revenue, up 8% year on year, and $56.7 billion for the full fiscal year. Oracle, meanwhile, posted more than $12 billion in annual profit, cementing its place as one of the most profitable software companies globally.
Cisco is already touting the upside of the AI era, with executives saying the firm has secured $2 billion worth of orders for its AI infrastructure business in 2025 alone.
Yet the shift has consequences for jobs. Chuck Robbins, Cisco’s long-time chief executive, recently told the Chronicle that the company’s AI strategy was about acceleration, not contraction. “I don’t want to get rid of a bunch of people right now,” Robbins said. “I just want our engineers we have today to innovate faster.”
Still, for the hundreds of employees holding pink slips this autumn, the nuance of that statement may be hard to reconcile.
Tech workers in Northern California have grown accustomed to volatility. From Meta to Google, firms that once promised stability have slashed tens of thousands of jobs since 2023, citing a mix of cost discipline and AI-driven restructuring.
In that context, Cisco and Oracle’s announcements are less an outlier than part of a broad correction: profitable incumbents redefining their cost base while chasing the next wave of digital infrastructure.