Cisco plans to announce its biggest layoff in history this week

Cisco is laying off about 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 percent of the network equipment maker's global workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing sources close to the company.

San Jose, California-based Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, the report said, as the company transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric organization.

The layoff is part of Cisco's broader plan to cut 15% of its overall costs, Techcrunch reported on Wednesday. The official announcement is expected to be made over the next two days, likely after its earnings Wednesday afternoon.

The 14,000 job cuts that are reported to be made this week would be the largest in Cisco's history, according to CRN.

Cisco typically makes big layoffs after the end of its fiscal year in July. From 2011 to 2014, it announced thousands of job cuts after its fourth quarter earnings, including the 6,000 workforce reduction in 2014. It didn't have any layoffs in 2015, which was CEO Chuck Robbins' first year in his position.

(Original report by Anjit Amjera, editing by Sandra Maler, additional editing by Eugene Kim, Business Insider)