Sales Jobs Phoenix in Danger from Cisco Cuts

Some technical sales jobs Phoenix could be negatively affected as a prominent company braces for thousands of layoffs.

Several news sources are reporting that Cisco Systems Inc. is planning to layoff thousands of employees and move thousands of other positions in the coming months in an effort to cut $1 billion in costs.

The company plans to layoff about 6,500 employees, including 2,100 workers who volunteered for early retirement and a 15-percent reduction of executive-level employees.

"(These are) painful steps in the right direction," Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee told MarketWatch. "This should help lower overhead and allow the company to be more competitive in the marketplace."

Cisco also is planning to move another 5,000 jobs to Foxconn Technology Group, which recently bought the company's manufacturing facility in Mexico..

"(The sale is a pleasant surprise) I would add, because it's always tough to see people lose their jobs," Wu added. "At least now they will be at Foxconn. Cisco really shouldn't be in the business of manufacturing, as they are a designer and marketer of products."