Mike Freeman, The San Diego Union-Tribune
Qualcomm has begun the process of notifying employees who will be laid off as part of its restructuring plan announced in July.
The San Diego wireless giant has not said how many workers locally will be let go. This summer, it outlined a cost cutting plan to trim its 31,300-employee global workforce by 15 percent – or about 4,700 jobs.
The restructuring aims to trim $1.4 billion in expenses and is expected to be completed by September 2016, the company said. Qualcomm employs about 15,000 workers in San Diego, including full time, temporary and part time workers. It also has dozens of other location scattered throughout the U.S. and the globe. Workers are receiving the required 60-day notice that they will be laid off.
The company issued the following statement this morning:
“As part of the Strategic Realignment Plan announced in July, we announced that Qualcomm would reduce full-time headcount and have a significant reduction of our temporary workforce. We are in the process of notifying employees. We haven’t provided a more specific breakdown. We remain committed to our strategic realignment and cost reduction plans. We underwent a thorough assessment to determine which roles and skill-sets will be needed to best support the future business. These decisions were driven by the near- and long-term strategic objectives for the business under our Strategic Realignment Plan. The company is providing a supportive severance package, outplacement resources and career transition services.”
Further details were not available at this time. Qualcomm has been stung this year after it lost key chips in Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6. The company supplied the main processor, cellular radio and other technology to previous versions of the Samsung Galaxy line, and it is working to win Samsung back as a customer in next year’s version of the Galaxy.
In addition, increased competition and the maturing smartphone market has slowed growth for Qualcomm. Sales for the company’s fiscal year ending this month are forecast at about $25 billion, down from $26.5 billion in 2014.
©2015 The San Diego Union-Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
