SiliconBeat

It has come to this: No more free waters and sodas at Cisco Systems. And the company will no longer pick up the bill for home Internet access.
The unrelenting economic downturn has claimed jobs and now long-enjoyed perks at the San Jose networking company. Employees this week were told that drinks now will only be available through vending machines and in the cafeteria — for a price. The company is also axing its policy to cover the costs of employee home broadband service.
While the announcement was met with a collective groan, a Cisco spokesman said the company hopes that trimming here and there can help avoid further job cuts. After all, the tab for free juices and broadband adds up for a company with some 67,300 workers, about 18,700 of whom live in the Bay Area.
Last month, Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers said the company would reduce its head count by 1,500 to 2,000 positions. But Chambers said he hopes to avoid major layoffs, which he defined as 10 percent of his employees.
In the fall, Cisco said it would reduce expenses — including travel — for this fiscal year by more than $1 billion.
The company announced a 27 percent drop in profits for its most recently completed quarter. And it expects the current quarter to see a 15 to 20 percent drop in revenue.

It’s official: Cisco’s chief executive, John Chambers, is now a member of Silicon Valley’s jet set. In fact, it’s a requirement.

Last month, Cisco’s board “adopted a travel policy” under which Chambers “is generally required to utilize a private airplane for business travel because his responsibilities on behalf of Cisco entail substantial national and international travel.” (But that’s nothing new, right?)

To help Chambers comply with the new ruling, Cisco will Read the rest of this entry »

One of the three proxy advisory services recommended today that Cisco System stock owners vote in favor of a shareholder proposal that the company’s board of directors opposes.

The proposal, put forward by Boston Common Asset Management, requests that “the board publish a report to shareholders, within six  months, providing a summarized listing and assessment of concrete steps the company could reasonably take to Read the rest of this entry »

Stanford President John Hennessy, who sits on the board of directors at both Google and Cisco Systems, added his voice to the rising chorus calling for resolution sooner rather than later to the credit crisis enveloping the U.S. economy, in an interview with Bloomberg News. Read the rest of this entry »

Cisco Systems, the San Jose networking giant, said Thursday that the compensation committee of its board of directors approved its “fiscal 2009 merit-based granting” to eligible employees of restricted stock units good for about 28 million shares. The committee also approved “merit-based right to receive future grants of performance-based restricted stock units for certain employees, based on Cisco’s financial performance in fiscal 2009, in a target amount of approximately 3 million restricted stock units.”

That adds up to approximately 31 million shares, which had a combined value of about Read the rest of this entry »

Although we spend most of our efforts needling Silicon Valley companies when we uncover bits of corporate shortcomings, we also have a soft spot in our hearts when it comes to the efforts by local companies to give back to the communities in which they live. Read the rest of this entry »