Despite growth, Cisco to lay off five percent of workforce

Cisco CEO John Chambers plans to axe five percent of the company's entire workforce, with the 4,000 layoffs beginning in 2014.

Although Cisco has grown, Chambers said it was "not growing as fast as we need," adding that the company had to dedicate its work to growth areas, quickly.

Cisco made $2.8 billion in sales from the $12.4 billion fourth quarter, meeting Wall Street's estimates and beating them just a smidge.  Cisco also reported sitting on cash assets of $50.6 billion, an increase of $3 billion from the previous quarter. Profit was $2.27 billion, an increase from the same time last year at $1.92 billion. Revenue was up to $12.42 billion from $11.69 billion. Shares have shot up 34 percent over the year but fell after this quarter's results were posted.