Chip major Qualcomm to lay off hundreds of employees in US

Chip giant Qualcomm is reportedly laying off at least 226 employees in the US later this year as part of its business diversification strategy.

As per reports, the upcoming layoffs by Qualcomm on November 12 were announced in a California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice. The layoffs were first reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The layoffs will reportedly affect employees at 16 facilities across San Diego, including the company’s headquarters.

A Qualcomm spokesperson was quoted as saying that their 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,” the spokesperson added.

Last year, Qualcomm laid off 1,258 workers as part of its broader cost-cutting measures. In 2023, Qualcomm recorded $35.8 billion in annual revenue.

Meanwhile, tech giant Cisco has also let go of thousands of employees following its second layoff of 2024, reported TechCrunch this week.

According to the report, the networking major would reduce its headcount by 7 per cent, or around 5,600 employees, following an earlier layoff in February, in which the company let go of about 4,000 employees.

Cisco said in its statement in August that its second layoff of the year would allow the company to “invest in key growth opportunities and drive more efficiencies.

This year, more than 60,000 job cuts have happened across 254 companies, according to layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted layoffs.

In 2023, about 262,735 tech employees lost their jobs globally – 59 per cent higher than 2022.