Qualcomm plans to cut jobs globally following its annual worker opinions, with notifications anticipated to begin in November.
Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon introduced the job cuts in a memo to workers on Monday, describing them as a “performance-focused reduction,” in accordance to Reuters.
The transfer comes because the semiconductor firm seeks to strengthen its efficiency tradition and align its workforce with enterprise priorities.
Why Qualcomm is reducing jobs
Amon mentioned the cuts had been meant to construct “a stronger performance culture” and tackle conditions the place the corporate “has consistently fallen short of expectations.”
He added that enterprise priorities, organisational wants, expertise and experience can be thought-about when figuring out the reductions.
- “As we have expanded the business, so have the competencies and skills we require,” Amon wrote.
- “We must have the right people in the right roles so they can perform at their best and the company can continue to succeed,” he added.
The firm had about 52,000 workers globally as of September 2025, most of them full-time. Its monetary 12 months sometimes ends in late September.
Weak smartphone demand weighs on outlook
The deliberate job cuts come as Qualcomm faces strain in the patron electronics market, with hovering reminiscence costs weighing on demand in key markets.
In its newest earnings report in late July, the corporate forecast quarterly revenue beneath estimates and mentioned income from Apple merchandise would decline sooner than anticipated.
However, Qualcomm signalled that development in data-centre and different non-handset companies would greater than offset the misplaced income by fiscal 2027.
The firm expects nearly all of its chip gross sales to come from companies exterior the smartphone market in fiscal 2027 because it expands into the fast-growing synthetic intelligence data-centre market.
Tech trade sees wave of job cuts
Qualcomm’s deliberate workforce discount comes amid a wider wave of job cuts throughout the worldwide expertise trade, as corporations restructure operations, handle prices and redirect sources in direction of synthetic intelligence.
- As of July 2026, the ten largest expertise layoffs introduced globally that 12 months had affected greater than 76,000 staff, according to data gathered by Nairametrics.
- In September 2026, Nairametrics reported that Uber planned to cut about 3,300 jobs globally as a part of a restructuring to cut back administration layers and redirect spending in direction of development and autonomous automobile expertise.
- Separately, the smartphone market is dealing with strain from rising prices and weaker demand.
On October 12, 2026, Nairametrics reported that global smartphone shipments fell 20% year-on-year in the third quarter, reaching their lowest degree for the interval since 2012, as reminiscence shortages and rising part prices disrupted provide and pushed up retail costs.
