Cisco Systems' CEO John Chambers, in the first week of April, had announced plans for a company shake-up in tough times. Chambers had said that while the company's strategy was sound, aspects of its operational execution were not. This has resonated across the globe and Indian employees are a concerned lot. It is learnt that around 500 employees in India have been handed out their pink papers. Cisco has about 7000 employees in India; it has its Globalization Center here, which it says houses some world class talent, and even its Executive Vice President and Chief Globalization Officer Wim Elfrink is based out of Bangalore.

The axe seems to have fallen mostly on Cisco's Consumer Product division, which is not making money in India and which analysts say is a low margin business.