Cisco may cut as many as 10,000 jobs

World's largest networking- equipment maker Cisco Systems may cut as many as 10,000 jobs, some 14 percent of its work force, as part of its efforts to boost profits, U.S. media reported on Tuesday. The cuts include as many as 7,000 jobs that would be eliminated by the end of August and early-retirement packages to about 3,000 workers who accepted buyouts, Bloomberg cited two people familiar with the layoff plans as saying. The voluntary retirement packages included one year's pay and medical benefits, and were offered to about 5,800 employees, the sources said. Cisco said in May that layoff plans will help the company save 1 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal 2012, though it expects costs of 500 million to 1.1 billion dollars in the fiscal fourth quarter as a result of the voluntary early retirement program. The release of Cisco's fiscal fourth quarter earnings report is scheduled for early August. After dominating market of IP routing and switching for more than two decades, Cisco has been suffering a slow down recently with some of its main businesses moving to rivals such as Hewlett- Packard. In early May, Cisco announced to simplify operations structure to focus on key growth areas. In April, CEO John Chambers acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the company's operational execution and warned that "tough decisions" would be made to preserve is profitability. Also in April, Cisco shut down its Flip Video camcorder business to support its key priorities.