But CEO John Chambers still preaches eternal optimism. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems. On the morning of the darkest day in his company's history, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers had breakfast with 1,400 employees.
Chambers hosts a monthly breakfast open to any employee whose birthday falls in that month.
That day, March 9, just 11 days after Chambers publicly vowed there would be no layoffs at Cisco, the company announced its first job cuts. Around 8,000 jobs would be lost, slashing the workforce by 17 percent. Facing a crowd fearful for their jobs and Cisco's future, Chambers exuded his usual confidence in Cisco's prospects. Once the economy rebounds, he declared, the company will resume growing at 30 percent to 50 percent a year. I think it'd be pretty tough to not come away with something uplifting.