ume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more. LIBRARY Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers Cisco Systems, Inc. High priest of the digital economy In January 1995, John Chambers succeeded Morgridge as president and CEO of Cisco. Chambers was one of the most vocal and visible proponents of the so-called "new economy." He confidently predicted the onset of the Internet age - a second industrial revolution. Not only was Cisco manufacturing the hardware that made the Internet work, it was also showing the world how the fully wired company of the future would operate. The company's success, he insisted, was powered by its paperless office and its real-time access to sales and supply data. Nimble Cisco was where all of corporate America was headed, and Chambers dazzled Wall Street analysts by releasing finalized financial data within 24 hours of the close of each quarter. During the heady days of the 1990s tech bubble, Chambers developed an impressive following of loyal and enthusiastic believers. Bubble burst But in 2000, the new economy ground to screeching halt. After all the talk about speed and agility in the Internet era, Cisco was caught flat-footed when orders suddenly dried up and the company was left with a mountain of unsold and aging equipment. In the second quarter of 2001, Cisco's revenue dropped for the first time in its history, and Chambers was eventually forced to write off $2.5 billion worth of inventory. The company's stock took a nosedive; from a high near $80 per share in March 2000, it dropped to a low of around $12 in September 2001. In an effort to right the ship, Chambers enacted an aggressive restructuring plan. He laid off nearly 10,000 employees and streamlined operations by combining the redundant project teams created by Cisco's patchwork of acquisitions. In a largely symbolic move, the Cisco chief also slashed his own salary (though not his lucrative stock options) to $1 per year until the company's recovery. Judging Chambers Chambers, for his part, has never wavered in his optimism for 