Qualcomm is reportedly laying off as many as 1,000 employees as part of a $1 billion cost savings plan

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Qualcomm is reportedly laying off as many as 1,000 employees as part of a $1 billion cost savings plan

Steven Mollenkopf ceo qualcomm

Mike Blake/Reuters

Steven Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm

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  • Qualcomm reportedly began laying off employees on Wednesday. The layoffs could ultimately affect as many as 1,000 jobs.
  • The layoffs are reportedly part of the company's efforts to reduce its spending by $1 billion, fulfilling a promise made to shareholders by management.
  • They come just weeks after President Trump issued an executive order preventing Broadcom, a Singapore-based competitor, from acquiring Qualcomm.

$80 billion chipmaker Qualcomm began layoffs on Wednesday as part of an effort to reduce its spending by $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. ABC 10 News, based in Qualcomm's hometown of San Diego, reports that the layoffs could affect as many as 1,000 jobs in the city.

In California, a layoff of more than 50 workers would require Qualcomm to file a WARN notice with the state, letting workers know that cuts are coming well ahead of taking any action. California state officials confirm to Business Insider that no such WARN notice has been filed as of the time of publication.

Qualcomm declined to comment.

As of September 2017, Qualcomm employs 33,800 people in both full and part time positions, according to company filings. Around 3,300 of those roles were added during the company's 2017 fiscal year. A layoff of 1,000 people would affect around 3% of the company's global workforce.

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Any layoffs would come just weeks after an agressive acquisition offer put Qualcomm's business on the international stage.

As part of its effort to rebuff a $117 billion hostile takeover by Broadcom, its Singapore-based comptitor, Qualcomm promised shareholders that it would cut its spending by $1 billion to make up for declining sales.

Though it looked like the acquisition might go through, the entire deal was called off after President Trump issued an executive order preventing Broadcom from buying Qualcomm on the grounds of national security. Still, while the deal failed, it appears that Qualcomm is following through on its commitment to shareholders to cut costs.

Following Trump's order, former CEO and chairman Paul Jacobs announced his interest in buying out the publicly-traded company on his own. Jacobs was subsequently removed from the board. It is unclear where his offer stands, or if it will move forward.

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