Cisco layoffs hit nearly 10% of Israeli workforce

Cisco Systems Inc. last week began laying off hundreds of employees at units around the world, including 250 at its Silicon Valley headquarters. At a conference call, Cisco president and CEO John Chambers said that the company was liable to fire an additional 1,500-2,000 of its 65,000 workforce, in addition to the 1,000 layoffs made last year.

7-10%, or 40-60, of the 600 employees at Cisco's R&D center in Netanya have been fired. The employees joined Cisco through its acquisitions of Israeli start-ups P-Cube, Riverhead Networks, Actona Networks, and Sheer Networks in 2004-05.