Qualcomm will begin notifying employees of global job cuts in November 2026 following its annual performance reviews, with chief executive Cristiano Amon describing the move as a performance-focused reduction intended to strengthen the company’s workforce and organisational structure.
In a memo to staff on Monday reviewed by Reuters, Amon said the reductions would address cases where employees had consistently fallen short of expectations. The memo did not specify how many roles would be affected, and the scale of the planned cuts remained unclear.
Qualcomm had approximately 52,000 employees worldwide as of September 2025, most of whom were full-time staff. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned reductions.
Amon said the company would consider its business priorities, organisational requirements, and the skills and expertise needed across its operations when determining which positions would be affected. He said the company’s expansion had changed the capabilities required of its workforce.
“As we have expanded the business, so have the competencies and skills we require,” Amon wrote in the memo. “We must have the right people in the right roles so they can perform at their best and the company can continue to succeed.”
The planned cuts come as the US chipmaker faces weaker demand in consumer electronics, with rising memory prices weighing on sales in key markets. Qualcomm is one of the world’s largest smartphone chip suppliers, leaving it exposed to changes in handset demand as it seeks to diversify its revenue.
In its latest earnings report in July, Qualcomm forecast quarterly profit below analysts’ estimates and warned that revenue from Apple products would decline faster than expected. The company nevertheless indicated that growth in data centres and other businesses outside smartphones would more than offset the lost revenue by fiscal 2027.
Qualcomm expects the majority of its chip sales to come from non-smartphone businesses in fiscal 2027 as it expands into the artificial intelligence data-centre market. The shift forms part of its broader effort to reduce reliance on its traditional handset business.
Investor performance has lagged behind the wider semiconductor sector this year. Qualcomm shares had risen 1.5 per cent in 2026, compared with gains of more than 12 per cent for the S&P 500 and nearly 60 per cent for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, before falling approximately 1 per cent in premarket trading on Tuesday.
