Qualcomm Plans Global Job Cuts After Annual Reviews

Qualcomm plans job cuts across its global workforce after annual employee reviews, with notifications due to begin in November.

By Career Ahead AI — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

A memo sets out the purpose and criteria for the cuts

The account of the planned cuts cited a memo from chief executive Cristiano Amon to employees. Amon said the move aimed to build a stronger performance culture and address cases where employees had consistently fallen short of expectations. The account did not specify how many positions Qualcomm planned to eliminate.¹

The memo said Qualcomm would weigh business priorities, organisational requirements, and the skills and expertise needed for its operations when deciding on reductions. Amon also wrote that the company’s expansion had increased the competencies and skills it required. He said Qualcomm needed people in roles suited to their abilities so they could perform well and support the company’s success.¹²

The memo said Qualcomm would weigh business priorities, organisational requirements, and the skills and expertise needed for its operations when deciding on reductions.

Qualcomm had about fifty-two thousand employees globally

Qualcomm had approximately fifty-two thousand employees worldwide as of September 2025, most of them full-time. The company is one of the world’s largest suppliers of smartphone chips. It was navigating weak consumer-electronics demand amid rising memory prices, placing the staffing decision against a backdrop of pressure in its traditional market.¹

Qualcomm’s shares had gained one point five per cent in 2026, compared with a rise of more than twelve per cent in the S&P 500 and nearly sixty per cent in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. In its July earnings report, Qualcomm forecast quarterly profit below market estimates and said revenue from Apple-related products would decline faster than it had previously expected.¹

The company is expanding beyond smartphone chips

Qualcomm’s stated plan projects growth in data centres and other businesses beyond smartphones more than offsetting lost revenue by fiscal 2027. The company has been expanding into the artificial-intelligence data-centre market as it seeks to diversify beyond its handset business. It also projected that non-smartphone businesses would account for the majority of its chip sales in fiscal 2027.¹

Other employers describe reviews as part of an ongoing process

Sharad Sharma said annual reviews and continuous feedback complement each other rather than compete. At Paras Health, each position has no more than five measurable key performance indicators, tracked through the organisation’s systems. Balkishan Sharma said Paras Health reviews those indicators every quarter. Puja Agarwal said the annual review should reflect the year’s work rather than serve as its main event.¹²

Match Skills To Business Priorities

When weighing a handset-focused path against work connected to data centres, ask which skills the role needs and how they match the employer’s priorities. Qualcomm is expanding into the artificial-intelligence data-centre market as it diversifies beyond handsets, while its memo says reductions consider business priorities, organisational requirements and required skills. Amon also said expansion had increased the competencies and skills the company requires. For your own move, compare evidence of your expertise with the role’s stated requirements, rather than treating a broad sector label as proof of fit.¹

Match Skills To Business Priorities When weighing a handset-focused path against work connected to data centres, ask which skills the role needs and how they match the employer’s priorities.

Ask a manager which measurable KPIs define success and how often feedback arrives before a year-end review. At Paras Health, each position has no more than five measurable KPIs tracked through the organisation’s systems, and those indicators are reviewed every quarter. That is a concrete model to discuss, not a rule for every employer. Sharad Sharma describes annual reviews and continuous feedback as complementary; Puja Agarwal says the annual review should reflect the year’s work.¹²