Qualcomm plans global performance-based layoffs from November, memo shows

Qualcomm, the American chip designer whose processors run many of the world's smartphones, will cut jobs worldwide in what its chief executive, Cristiano Amon, called a "performance-focused reduction". The plan was set out in an internal memo to staff on Monday, 19 October 2026, and reported on 20 October. According to the memo, the cuts follow the company's annual employee reviews and notifications to affected staff will begin in November. The memo did not say how many jobs will go.

Most large layoffs are explained by cost pressure, a weak market or a change of strategy. This one is framed differently. Mr Amon presented the cuts as a way to build a stronger performance culture, and the memo says the reduction targets situations where people have consistently fallen short of expectations. In plain terms, a "performance-focused" or "performance-based" layoff links job losses to an employee's ratings in the yearly review, rather than closing a whole team or office. For employees, that makes the annual review far more important than usual.

The business background explains why the company is tightening. Qualcomm earns most of its money from chips for smartphones. Reports on the memo point to weaker demand for consumer electronics, tied to higher prices for memory chips, a key component in phones and other devices. Apple is a large customer, and Qualcomm said in July that revenue from Apple products would fall faster than it had expected. The company is trying to grow in areas other than phones, including chips for AI data centres, the large computer facilities that train and run artificial-intelligence systems. Spending on new areas while the core phone business slows puts pressure on costs and on which skills the company keeps.

The memo does not break the cuts down by country, and no figures for India have been reported. That uncertainty matters to Indian engineers, because large global chip companies run engineering teams in India, and a worldwide reduction can touch any location. Anyone at the company, or hoping to join it, will be watching the November notifications closely.

The news also fits a wider pattern in tech careers. Naukri's JobSpeak index, released on 1 October 2026, showed white-collar hiring in India up 2% year on year in September 2026, but hiring for IT and software roles down 4%. Over the same period, hiring for specialised artificial-intelligence and machine-learning roles rose 20%, and hiring at Global Capability Centres (GCCs, the in-house technology and operations units that foreign companies set up in India) grew 4%. The message for tech workers is that demand is shifting towards particular skills, while general roles face more scrutiny.

Short-term: Qualcomm employees face weeks of uncertainty until notifications begin in November, especially those who received weak ratings in the latest review. Because the company has not given a number, it is not yet clear whether this is a small trimming or a large round.

Long-term: Linking cuts to review ratings may make performance reviews more decisive at Qualcomm, and other chip companies under similar pressure could take the same approach. The company's push into data-centre chips suggests that skills in AI hardware and related software are likely to be valued, while roles tied to the slowing phone business may face more pressure.

Who is affected: Qualcomm's employees worldwide, including its engineering teams outside the United States; job seekers hoping to join large chip companies; and suppliers and partners who work with Qualcomm's teams.

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