Qualcomm has begun cutting jobs in India, starting at its Bengaluru facility, as part of a global restructuring that could place around 1,000 or more positions at risk across the country, according to reports cited by Business Standard. The workforce reductions are expected to continue in phases across the company’s Indian operations.
The first round of layoffs began on Monday at Qualcomm’s Bengaluru facility, Financial Express reported. The company has major research and development and engineering operations in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR and Chennai, making India its largest engineering base outside the United States.
Around 20,000 people work for Qualcomm in India, according to the report. Globally, the restructuring could affect approximately 7 per cent of the company’s 52,000-strong workforce. If the reductions are applied broadly across Qualcomm’s Indian operations, the country could account for around 1,000 job losses or slightly more, Financial Express reported.
The exercise is understood to be affecting both senior engineers and recent hires. Some employees asked to leave have reportedly said they had not received prior performance-related feedback. The company has described the restructuring as performance-focused and said it is intended to strengthen its performance culture.
In an internal memo to employees in October, Qualcomm chief executive Cristiano Amon said the company needed to address areas where employees had consistently fallen short of expectations, Reuters reported. The company has not publicly confirmed the total number of Indian employees who may be affected by the current exercise.
The reported severance terms include compensation equivalent to three months’ salary, linked to an employee’s tenure, according to Financial Express. Employees who sign their relieving documents within three days were reportedly being offered an additional month’s salary. Another round of job cuts could take place in January, the report said.
The reductions come as Qualcomm faces pressure in its smartphone chip business. The company’s latest quarterly results, announced last week, showed handset revenue falling 26 per cent year-on-year to $5.14 billion in the September quarter. The figure was below the market estimate of $5.25 billion.
Qualcomm’s overall revenue declined 8 per cent year-on-year to $10.32 billion in the September quarter, compared with $11.27 billion a year earlier. The company attributed pressure on the smartphone market partly to rising memory chip costs, which have pushed up device prices and weighed on global shipments.
For India’s technology hubs, the reported cuts highlight the exposure created by the concentration of global engineering and research operations in a small number of cities. Qualcomm’s facilities bring together senior technical roles, early-career engineering positions and related employment ecosystems, although the company has not disclosed a city-wise impact assessment.
The current layoffs are expected to proceed in phases across Qualcomm’s Indian operations. Further details on the number of affected employees and the reported January round will determine the eventual scale of the restructuring in India.
