Qualcomm cuts 415 jobs at San Diego headquarters amid lingering smartphone slump

Qualcomm chopped 415 jobs from its San Diego headquarters last month as the mobile chip firm seeks to reduce expenses amid a lingering slowdown in smartphone sales.

The San Diego-based wireless technology provider filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) paperwork with the state of California and local employment officials giving notice of the layoffs, which take effect in mid-July.

In addition to reducing its San Diego headcount, Qualcomm let go of 84 workers in the Bay Area.

Qualcomm designs semiconductors and provides mobile technologies to smartphone brands — as well as automakers and Internet of Things companies. On the smartphone front, much of its business stems from Android devices —though it does supply 5G cellular modem chips used in iPhones.

Soft smartphone sales, particularly in China, have weighed on the company’s growth this year.

This latest round of workforce reductions comes on top of two smaller layoffs in December and March, which shaved a combined 232 workers from its payrolls in San Diego.

Even so, Qualcomm remains San Diego’s largest technology firm with about 12,000 local employees.

The company declined to comment. But in its latest earnings conference call in May, Chief Executive Cristiano Amon said forecasting the market remains difficult.

“We are actively managing operating expenses and will continue to evaluate additional opportunities to drive greater operating efficiencies without losing sight of the automotive and Internet of Things growth opportunities ahead,” he said.

Qualcomm has been working to diversify its business beyond smartphones. It has a large backlog with car makers for in-vehicle connectivity, digital dashboard/infotainment systems and autonomous driving.

With the Internet of Things, Qualcomm supplies technologies for in-cabin cameras for big rigs, drones, retail and warehouse scanners, robotics and other industries.

But sluggish smartphones remain a big part of the company’s revenue. “We are on track to meet our commitment of a 5 percent reduction in non-GAAP operating expenses relative to our fiscal ’22 exit rate,” said Akash Palkhiwala, chief financial officer, during the conference call. “This includes a further reduction of spending in handsets to fund diversification investments.”

Job cuts were concentrated in engineering, with about 300 of the positions eliminated having “engineer” in the job title, according to the WARN notice.

Layoffs have increased at San Diego tech companies both large and small over the past 12 months.

TuSimple, a startup developing self-driving technology for semi-trucks, eliminated nearly 300 local jobs. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which makes military drones, cut 160 positions. Satellite operator Viasat laid off 107 workers. Amazon and Google also have shed positions at San Diego satellite locations.

Qualcomm’s shares ended trading Tuesday down 2 percent at $119.82 on the Nasdaq exchange.