Cisco Cuts 5,900 Jobs (7% Reduction) Amid Tech Sector Layoffs and Shift to AI; Citadel Took 3 Years for Dashboard Migration

The tech industry continues to face significant upheaval, driven by over-hiring during the pandemic, rising interest rates, and a shift towards artificial intelligence (AI). Major layoffs have been reported, including Cisco's announcement of a 7% workforce reduction, impacting approximately 5,900 employees as the company pivots towards AI and cybersecurity. Observations from industry insiders suggest that many software engineers currently in the field may not possess the advanced skills traditionally associated with top-tier talent. For instance, it was noted that Citadel took nearly three years to migrate its profit and loss dashboard from a $2 million per year ServiceNow solution to an in-house ReactJS front end, raising questions about the capabilities of average developers. Furthermore, some argue that many talented engineers are being overpaid in the hedge fund sector, primarily serving as figureheads rather than contributing significantly to innovation or development. This trend indicates a potential misalignment between the skills of current software engineers and the demands of the evolving tech landscape.