Qualcomm begins layoff round to cut costs

The American processor designer Qualcomm has started a round of layoffs, which reportedly will see 1500 American employees lose their jobs. The processor designer confirms the round of layoffs, but does not want to say yet how many people will be fired.

Bloomberg claims Qualcomm wants to lay off 1,500 people in the US state of California. That is between four and five percent of the total number of employees. Qualcomm currently employs around 33,000 people worldwide.

Qualcomm confirms the layoff and says it is part of a cost saving. The processor designer wants to save a billion dollars in costs. “We first looked at cost savings without layoffs,” Qualcomm said in a statement. “But we concluded that reducing the workforce is necessary to support long-term growth and success, which ultimately benefits all stakeholders.”

Qualcomm faces declining profits due to two-party legal battle. One of those parties is Apple. Broadcom also made an enemy takeover attempt, but is now refraining from doing so. The last major round of layoffs at Qualcomm took place three years ago. Then 4500 employees lost their jobs.