Qualcomm begins layoffs to cut costs by promised $1B
Chipmaker in January promised to cut expenses to curry investor support against Broadcom's hostile takeover bid.
Chipmaker Qualcomm has begun laying off employees as part of a promise to reduce costs by $1 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The number of positions being cut wasn't immediately known, but it's large enough that the San Diego-based company will have to file a WARN notice, or Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, with the state of California, the report said. California requires companies give advance notice of layoffs of 50 or more employees within a 30-day period.
"As part of the cost reduction plan announced in January, Qualcomm is conducting a reduction of our full-time and temporary workforce," a Qualcomm spokesman said. "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."
Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of chips and processors for phones, said in January it would reduce expenses by $1 billion to improve earnings to rally investor support against a hostile takeover bid from rival Broadcom. But that bid was blocked by the Trump administration on national security grounds, and now the company must make good on its promise.
Qualcomm shares closed down 12 cents to $55.23 but were up 27 cents in after-hours trading,
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