Cisco

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CCBU is generally a great place to work, but unfortunately, a few handful unfit so-called managers have severely impacted the environment. In some teams, the toxicity is particularly rampant, and it goes unchecked because two individuals are enabling unethical behavior. This is totally unchecked, as developers fear for their jobs, as these managers threaten them with dire consequences.

Person KK, who is abusive and egotistical, constantly demands respect, claiming to be the key to the team’s success while threatening others with consequences if he is not respected. Person NS, a close friend of K's wife, believes everyone must support him and follow him blindly. Technically, NS himself will not know anything.

In this dysfunctional environment, any task that doesn't get done is automatically attributed by a threat to talk to KK. The team works tirelessly, yet NS takes all the credit, while KK rewards him for it and never the team. If you don’t meet expectations, NS will relentlessly contact you—calling, texting, and reaching out non-stop on WhatsApp, and even reaching out to your family, all while disregarding any personal boundaries.

N's only role seems to be demanding ETAs with no planning or structure, undermining Cisco’s otherwise amazing culture.

This stressful environment persists only because both K and N protect each other’s interests. I was ill and could not even get up. My father was contacted on the phone asking where your son was, while I was sick with a high fever. The mental stress I endured is ongoing, as only one person listens who is in the USA, and he is unaware of these folks. As a developer, I am not able to work on new technologies and upcoming features and tech stack.

That's how talent dies.

My peers in a vendor company were tortured mentally, even during pregnancy.

Cisco is a wonderful company, but this one team under Kk and N’s so-called titled leadership is a glaring exception.

Please take note of these managers who are just wasting engineers' value and keeping them under pressure all the time, and who have no sense of planning and leadership at all.