Cisco Systems to terminate 14000 jobs read more at here http://spinonews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/615

California-based Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks as the company transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric organization. 

Cisco Systems Inc is laying off about 14,000 employees representing nearly 20 percent of the network equipment maker's global workforce technology.

Cisco increasingly requires different skill sets for the software-defined future than it did in the past, as it pushes to capture a higher share of the addressable market and aims to boost its margins.

Cisco which had more than 70,000 employees as of April 30, declined to comment.

Cisco has been investing in new products such as data analytics software and cloud-based tools for data centers, to offset the impact of slow moving spending by telecom carriers and enterprises on its main business of making network switches and routers.

The company has already offered many early retirement package plans to Cisco's employees.

Up until Tuesday's close of $31.12 on the NASDAQ, the company's stock had risen about 15 percent this year, compared with a 10.5 percent increase in the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Hardware & Equipment index.

Apart from Cisco, the other tech giants which have announced job cuts in the face of PC industry decline in recent years, are Microsoft Corp, HP Inc and Intel Corp.