In the wake of the drama around the failed Broadcom acquisition, Qualcomm is said to be cutting jobs.
- Qualcomm began laying off employees on Wednesday, the company confirmed.
- The layoffs could ultimately affect as many as 1,000 jobs according to one report, though Qualcomm has not confirmed a total.
- The layoffs are 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, the company confirmed.
"As part of the cost reduction plan announced in January, Qualcomm is conducting a reduction of our full-time and temporary workforce," Qualcomm said in a statement.
"We first evaluated non-headcount expense reductions, but we concluded that a workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success, which will ultimately benefit all our stakeholders," the company said.
News of the layoffs was first reported by 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 confirmed to Business Insider that no such WARN notice has been filed as of the time of publication.
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.
The layoffs 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.