San Francisco, Dec 13 (IANS): Joining the Big Tech layoff season, networking major Cisco has reportedly started laying off 5 per cent of its workforce, or more than 4,000 employees.

Reports first surfaced last month that the networking giant Cisco is gearing up to lay off over 4,000 employees in a "rebalancing" act while "rightsizing certain businesses".

According to Silicon Valley Business Journal, impacted workers took to TheLayoff.com and Blind portal to post about their job cuts at the company.

Impacted by Cisco layoffs!" one company employees said on Blind.

"Looking for immediate (software engineering) referrals. Any help would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks," theAAaffected employee added.

According to the report, some asked for tips on new jobs, while some sought information about the severance packages.

Cisco did not directly comment but said in a statement that "we didn't take this decision lightly, and we will offer those impacted extensive support, including generous severance packages".

In its first quarter earning report (Q1 2023) last month, Cisco reported $13.6 billion in revenue, up 6 per cent year over year.

Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco, did not divulge any detail on laying off employees, saying he would "be reluctant to go into a lot of detail here until we're able to talk to them. I would say that what we're doing is rightsizing certain businesses".

"You can just assume that we're going to -- we're not actually -- there's nothing that's a lower priority, but we are rightsizing certain businesses," he had told the analysts.

Cisco Chief Financial Officer Scott Herren had described the move as a "rebalancing" act.