Cisco Systems is offering early retirement to U.S. and Canadian employees as a part of its “Refocus process“. The largest computer-networking equipment manufacturer is doing this as a part of its strategy issued by John Chambers, Chief Executive Officer of Cisco. The information was given in an e-mailed statement by the company stating “our ongoing commitment to responsible business management”.

But this is not the only thing that investors and industry analysts foresee for Cisco.  Some recent shuffles done in the company include closing down of Flip video-camera business as well as cutting 550 jobs.  Moreover, Tal Liani, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said that investors expect Cisco to sell more of its consumer businesses, consolidate operations as well as make changes in management structure too.  The company decided to take out Flip from its portfolio after a memo was released by John Chambers, a few weeks back. Cisco had purchased Flip last 2009 for about $600 million.  Additionally, it also retrenched some 550 employees as well costing the company $300 million for lay off charges.

Early this month, the company also lost two executives as a part of its restructuring plan. It lost Nawaf Bitar, who worked as vice president of engineering and operations for the security technology business unit for the past 4 years, and Debra Chrapaty, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Collaboration Software Group. But this is not over yet, as industry analysts including Tom Foremski, a SiliconANGLE contributor considers it absolutely unethical. Here is what he has to say in his ZDNet article,

“To flagrantly destroy so many jobs in a viable business is a cynical act of economic sabotage — especially as the US looks to the tech sector for a much needed economic boost. I would expect a captain of industry, as Mr Chambers clearly is, to show a more compassionate leadership.”

After receiving mixed opinions and mostly bad reviews, the company tries to move on with some core product updates. They have to, or Juniper Networks, their fiercest nemesis would swallow them alive. Just today, Cisco launched the nextgen Linksys E4200 wireless router.

But Cisco isn’t the only company undergoing executive level changes and making cut backs.  Panasonic is also in the race, as just today it announced that it will cut thousands of jobs as it adapts its business to a changing global environment and absorbs recent acquisitions.  The company is expected to cut 17,000 jobs over the next two years from its work force of 367,000, which is already down from the 385,000 people it employed at the end of March 2010.

“The job cuts are really about eliminating duplication, said Yoshiharu Izumi, an analyst in Tokyo for J.P. Morgan Securities. “For example, Panasonic and Sanyo both produce washing machines. They want to consolidate that. They bought Sanyo for its batteries and solar-cells businesses, they don’t need some of the other parts.”