Qualcomm lays off hundreds of employees in the US

Smartphone chipset giant Qualcomm has announced that it will lay off 226 employees in San Diego later this year. The layoffs are part of the company’s business diversification strategy. Qualcomm’s upcoming layoffs of hundreds of workers in the region were announced in a California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice. The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported the upcoming Qualcomm layoffs.

Qualcomm’s upcoming layoffs will affect employees at 16 facilities across San Diego

Qualcomm’s latest layoffs will affect its employees at 16 facilities across San Diego. Notably, the company’s headquarters facility is also affected by the layoffs, which have a cybersecurity presence. As of now, there’s no word if the company’s cybersecurity team is affected by the layoffs or not. According to the WARN notice, Qualcomm will lay off the affected 226 workers on November 12.

According to a Qualcomm spokesperson, “Our leading technology and product portfolio has positioned us to execute on our diversification strategy. As part of a normal course of business, we prioritize and align our investments, resources, and talent to ensure we are optimally positioned to take advantage of the unprecedented diversification opportunities in front of us.”

Qualcomm already laid off thousands of workers last year

It’s worth mentioning that Qualcomm’s latest decision to lay off hundreds of workers comes less than a year after the brand let go of thousands of workers. In 2023, the company laid off over 1,250 employees. Notably, the smartphone chipset giant recorded $35.8 billion in revenue last year.

Qualcomm isn’t the only company laying off employees this year. Qualcomm isn’t the only company laying off employees this year. The networking giant Cisco will also lay off 5,600 employees later this year. Notably, the company, already laid off around 4,000 employees in February, reports TechCrunch. Now, it will reduce its headcount by 7 percent later this year.

Notably, over 60,000 jobs have been affected by layoffs across 254 companies in 2024, as per layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Several notable companies like Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Amazon, Snap, and TikTok conducted layoffs this year. Last year, more than 2,60,000 tech workers were laid off worldwide, which is 59 percent higher than 2022.