
Cisco To Shut Down For 4 Days At Year End - ksvs
http://gigaom.com/2008/11/25/cisco-to-shut-down-for-4-days-at-year-end/
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giardini
Cisco has _always_ virtually shut down between Christmas and New Years IIRC.
People always take time off during the holidays: it isn't worthwhile to keep
the whole business running. It's always been their unofficial policy, if not
official to do so.

IMHO this is a silly attempt to cause panic.

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skmurphy
This is of a piece with the WebGuild's recent "Google layoffs may affect
10,000." Hyping negative news. Cisco had shutdowns over the holidays for
years. The cost savings come from reducing deferred vacation pay (most people
will take vacation days to avoid going without pay) and cutting expenses
related to keeping buildings open. It also sends a message to employees to
become more cost conscious.

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jm4
There is very little information in this article. In fact, the headline pretty
much sums it all up. A quote or two to put this in context would have been
nice. The article implies the shutdown is a cost saving measure, but provides
absolutely nothing to back this up. It doesn't even mention whether or not
employees will be paid for the four days. For all we know, they could just be
giving employees a little more time off to enjoy the holidays.

[EDIT] There's a better article on Reuters that least attributes the news to
an email from a Cisco spokesperson.

[http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/reuters/SIG=1165jh9e...](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/reuters/SIG=1165jh9eu/*http://www.reuters.com/legacyArticle?duid=mtfh42372_2008-11-25_18-55-20_n25270787_newsml&rpc=44&type=marketsNews)

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tptacek
Raise your hands if you believe Cisco is closing to "give employees a little
more time off to enjoy the holidays". Anyone?

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jm4
You don't have to be a jerk about it. My point was that there was almost no
substance to this article and nothing to back up its claims. It's simply bad
journalism. That's a valid point no matter what the reason is for the
shutdown. We should expect more from stories submitted here.

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sahaj
i have a "friend" who "works" there. this really is a cost saving effort.

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jm4
I had my doubts after reading the gigaom article, but the Reuters article I
found mentioned a statement from a Cisco person saying it is a cost saving
measure.

I guess it's a safe assumption that employees will not be paid for these days.
Can your "friend" share a little more information? So far, there seems to be
very little information available.

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corentin
If what you say is true, this measure doesn't seem to make any sense.

If their employees cost more than what they produce every day, doing nothing
for 4 days is similar to closing your eyes and wishing the problem away.

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tptacek
If they're losing money every day, closing down for 4 days makes sense.

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corentin
Yes, as much as closing down for the whole year.

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tptacek
While that's an oversimplification to be sure, what you just described is also
known as "returning the money to the stockholders".

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tptacek
Cisco is the closest thing technology has to an industrial company. At least a
few regulars here have to have worked on Tasman before. It's not what you'd
call an "agile" place.

