Qualcomm layoffs begin in India, here is what Indian employees may get as severance

Chipmaker Qualcomm is conducting a mass round of layoffs globally. The company has reportedly begun cutting jobs in India, with as many as 1,000 employees likely facing the axe. While the company has not made any announcements following CEO Cristiano Amon’s memo last month, reports have shed more light on this restructuring.As per a report from Financial Express, Qualcomm is expected to cut roughly 7 per cent of its global workforce that stands at 52,000, or around 3,600 jobs. In India, Qualcomm has about 20,000 employees across facilities in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR and Chennai.The report adds that about 1,000 jobs in India may be impacted by this round of restructuring, with another round expected in January next year. The cuts are understood to cover senior engineers as well as recent hires.Qualcomm declined to comment when contacted by India Today Tech. Qualcomm employee gives severance package detailsOn Reddit, some Qualcomm employees have shared details of the severance package they received. One user, who goes by the handle anonymous_Practical, wrote on the Qualcomm subreddit that they were laid off in this round. “Got a message from my manager today asking if I was available for 1:1 I was informed that I’m getting laid off,” they wrote.The user claimed that as part of severance, they were offered 3 months of salary and an additional one for every year served at the company. They said that Qualcomm was ready to offer them another month of pay if they signed the layoff papers within a couple of days. “Severance is 3 months + number of years served (2 month of 2 years served) + 1 month extra if I sign and submit the layoff papers in 2-3 days,” the person wrote. The user claimed they got laid off on November 9. Why is Qualcomm laying off workers?According to the post, the employee’s manager said the decision was based on business needs rather than performance. A senior employee later attributed it to AI and cost-cutting. “Another senior staff talked to me... and said I was selected because I had less experience(1.2 years) compared to others in the same layer,” the user wrote.Last month, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon informed employees the company would undertake a “performance-focused reduction” worldwide after its annual reviews, with notifications beginning in November. As per previous reports, the job cuts come as Qualcomm faces challenges in its smartphone chip business, with handset revenue declining 25 per cent in the latest quarter.At the same time, the company is looking to expand into other areas, including data centres, AI and connected devices. The company has also forecast lower-than-expected profits and expects revenue from Apple products to decline faster than anticipated.Qualcomm is far from the only company laying off workers in the tech sector. Earlier this month, Canva laid off 1,271 employees globally as part of an internal overhaul. Impacted employees received a generous severance package including Free MacBooks and LinkedIn Premium. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Block is also reporting cutting jobs, with laid-off employees receiving a $5,000 payment in addition to severance salary.As per layoffs tracker, Layoffs.fyi, over 1,42,000 tech roles have been eliminated this year across 350 companies. But beyond layoffs, some companies are also offering voluntary exits. Microsoft, Google, and Meta, have reportedly made such offers to thousands of employees as these companies invest billions in AI.- Ends