![\"Cisco](\"https:\/\/wordpress-assets.futurism.com\/2024\/08\/cisco-layoff-ai-profit-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>Pink Slip Season<\/h2>
Despite tech conglomerate Cisco posting $10.3 billion in profits last year, it's still laying off 5,500 workers as part of an effort to invest more in AI, SFGATE<\/em> reports<\/a>.<\/p> It joins a litany of other companies like Microsoft<\/a> and Intuit<\/a>, the maker of TurboTax, that have used AI as justification for the mass culling of its workforce.<\/p> The layoffs at Cisco came to light in a notice posted with the Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a> this week, affecting seven percent of its staff.<\/p> In a short statement<\/a>, CEO Chuck Robbins used the term \"AI\" five times, highlighting the company's efforts to keep up in the ongoing AI race.<\/p> Earlier this year, Cisco also laid off 4,000 or five percent of it staff<\/a>, saying that the company wanted to \"realign the organization and enable further investment in key priority areas.\"<\/p> In short, companies are no longer hiding their optimism over replacing human labor with AI, an unfortunate reality for those looking to maintain a stable job. But whether this \"realignment\" will pay off in the long run remains to be seen.<\/p> The layoff news helped boost Cisco's stock price on Wednesday<\/a>, going from $45.04 in the morning to spiking over $48 per share in after-hours trading.<\/p> We've already seen similar spikes in the stock prices of other tech companies announcing layoffs<\/a>.<\/p> Cisc's layoffs are also part of another pattern: tech companies saying they are shifting resources to boost their AI efforts and therefore they need to lay off people as part of a restructuring campaign.<\/p> While many companies have used AI as a public-facing excuse for their restructuring efforts, experts remain skeptical and think the tech is instead used as a cover.<\/p> \"Fighting against robots is a nice cover story,\" University of Oxford economist and data scientist Fabian Stephany told Business Insider<\/em><\/a> earlier this year. \"But if you have a closer look, it's often old school, simple economic dynamics like outsourcing or lead management cutting costs to increase salaries in other places.\"<\/p> More on tech layoffs:<\/strong> Microsoft Lays Off 1,500 Workers, Blames \"AI Wave\"<\/em><\/a><\/p> The post Tech Company Lays Off 5,500 Workers to Invest More in AI, Despite Making $10.3 Billion in Profit<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Here is the original post: Pink Slip Season Despite tech conglomerate Cisco posting $10.3 billion in profits last year, it's still laying off 5,500 workers as part of an effort to invest more in AI, SFGATE reports . Continue reading Red Herring<\/h2>
Tech Company Lays Off 5,500 Workers to Invest More in AI, Despite Making $10.3 Billion in Profit<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"