Cisco to shutdown offices for four days to cut cost
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 26 November 2008, 20:30 IST   |    2 Comments
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San Francisco: As part of cutting $1 billion in costs, the networking major will close down most of its offices in U.S. and Canada for four days over the holidays. The company foresees that the sale of networking equipments would fall by 5 to 10 percent in the current quarter as corporations reduce IT spending due to the credit crisis. The offices will remain close on December 29 and lasts through January 2, including New Year's Day, and a federal holiday. The company's shares have fallen by six percent due to fear on the demand of Cisco's products remains sluggish. This is the first mandatory shutdown of Cisco in over a decade. However, the company couldn’t make it clear how many employees will be affected and how much money will be saved as result of this move. The practice of closing down offices during holidays in a tough economic condition is common among Silicon Valley companies. Some of those are now extending these closures as a strategy to save money in shaking financial condition. Workers are usually either given paid days off or are asked to take unused vacation days. Similarly, HP plans to close its offices for two weeks instead of one. Apple and Adobe System are also asking employees to take time off. However, Cisco has mentioned that "business-critical teams" including technical support and ordering services would stay open.

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