Qualcomm has announced a global workforce reduction, with notifications to employees set to begin in November. CEO Cristiano Amon detailed the plan in a memo to staff on Monday, describing the initiative as a "performance-focused reduction" following the company's annual employee reviews. The primary objective is to build a stronger performance culture and address areas where the firm has not met targets, according to The Hindu BusinessLine.
The memo indicated that business priorities, organizational needs, and specific skills would guide the selection process for the cuts. Amon noted that as the business has expanded, the required competencies have evolved, necessitating that the right people are placed in the right roles. The Hindu BusinessLine reported that the memo did not specify the exact number of positions affected, and Reuters was unable to immediately determine the scale of the reductions. Qualcomm had approximately 52,000 staff worldwide as of September 2025, most of whom were full-time.
The restructuring occurs against a backdrop of financial pressure on the semiconductor firm. Nairametrics reported that Qualcomm has been impacted by a slump in consumer electronics sales, driven by soaring memory prices that weigh on demand in key markets. In its late July earnings report, the company forecast quarterly profits below estimates and noted that revenue from Apple products would decline faster than anticipated. Despite these headwinds, Qualcomm signaled that expansion in data-center and other non-handset segments would compensate for the drop in handset income by fiscal 2027.
The company expects most of its chip sales to originate from businesses outside the smartphone sector in fiscal 2027, as it moves into the rapidly growing artificial intelligence data-center market. Nairametrics noted that this shift aligns with a broader trend in the technology industry, where firms are restructuring operations and redirecting resources toward AI. As of July 2026, the top ten tech sector workforce reductions announced that year impacted over 76,000 personnel, according to data compiled by Nairametrics.
Market performance has also reflected these challenges. The Hindu BusinessLine stated that Qualcomm’s shares have risen just 1.5% in 2026, a modest gain compared to the S&P 500’s increase of more than 12% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s rise of nearly 60%. The workforce reduction aims to ensure the company can continue to succeed while navigating these competitive and economic shifts.