It was only in the third week of September that Qualcomm had revealed its intention to reduce headcount at its Shanghai office. Now, the technology company is reportedly readying to axe about over a thousand employees from its 51,000-strong global workforce. This time, the cuts are happening at its offices in California, that is, in San Diego and Santa Clara. The company is expected to offer significant severance packages to the impacted staff members.
Reports say that by the second week of December 2023, about 1,064 will be let go from the San Diego office, while about 194 will be asked to leave from the Santa Clara office as per the firm’s annual financial filing. The facilities at both the locations will continue to function.
Given the macroeconomic environment, the company had already indicated a possibility of job cuts and a restructuring exercise in its previous quarterly earnings report.
The firm intends to invest in primary growth and explore diversification opportunities. It hopes to complete the restructuring by the first half of FY 2024.
Qualcomm maintains offices in over a dozen Chinese cities for its semiconductor and mobile telecommunications ventures. It maintains research and development centres in both Beijing and Shanghai. In an August stock exchange filing discussing its quarterly revenue, Qualcomm had noted its anticipation of ‘workforce reductions’ as part of broader restructuring efforts. In September the news of job cuts in Shanghai emerged.
