科技英语新闻:Cisco offers U.S., Canadian employees early retirement to cut costs

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Cisco Systems Inc., world's largest maker of computer-networking equipment, on Thursday brought up an early retirement offer to its employees in the United States and Canada, in a move to cut costs and restructure the company.

The voluntary plan applies to employees who are at least 50 years old and have a combined age and years of service at Cisco for at least 60 as of July 8, the company said in a memo sent to employees.

"Cisco employs a variety of different methods to control costs and align investment dollars, and offering this voluntary early retirement program to those eligible employees in the U.S. and Canada is part of our ongoing commitment to responsible business management," the company said in a statement.

Cisco gave no details on the costs it would save and the number of employees eligible for the plan.

Earlier this month, Cisco CEO John Chambers warned that "tough decisions" would be made to preserve profitability as government budget pressure has been costing the company orders and slowing its sales growth.

On April 12, Cisco announced to shut down its Flip Video camcorder business to restructure its business and support its key priorities.