Qualcomm Plans Layoffs While Recruiting for More Than 2,000 Positions
Qualcomm plans global layoffs with employee notifications starting in November, according to an internal memo from CEO Cristiano Amon first reported by Reuters and CNBC. Amon described the move as a performance focused reduction after the close of Qualcomm’s fiscal year, aimed at teams falling short of expectations.
Qualcomm employs about 52,000 people worldwide. Total layoff numbers have not been disclosed but the cuts come as phone upgrade cycles slow down and Qualcomm prepares for lost Apple modem revenue before fiscal 2027. The company is also shifting resources into automotive, PC chips (Snapdragon X), and data center AI silicon.
Even with cuts planned, hiring remains active. Qualcomm currently has 2,173 active job postings worldwide in our job index. That includes 831 open jobs in the United States, with 224 of them posted in the last 30 days.
You can search active Qualcomm openings on our job board.
Where Qualcomm Is Hiring
In the United States, three locations have the most job postings:
- San Diego, California: 658 jobs (headquarters and primary R&D center)
- Bay Area (Santa Clara / San Jose): 197 jobs
- Austin, Texas: 125 jobs
Note: Some job postings list multiple locations, which explains overlapping city counts.
To explore open chip roles in these regions across all employers, browse live openings in San Diego, the Bay Area, or Austin.
In India, Qualcomm lists 614 active job posts across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Noida. These roles focus on physical design, design verification, validation, and firmware.
In the US, the top technical disciplines are embedded firmware, systems software, and chip architecture and SoC design. Active work includes phone software, automotive demo platforms, data center AI, and PC thermal design.
Across the wider industry, you can browse open positions in physical design, design verification, embedded firmware, or SoC design.
Reposted Jobs and Hard to Fill Roles
Not every recent posting is new headcount:
- 599 active jobs worldwide have employer posting dates from the past 30 days.
- 43 of those are reposted jobs that previously closed and were reopened.
Meanwhile, 852 job listings (39% of all active Qualcomm postings) have been open for more than 90 days. Almost all of them were verified live on Qualcomm’s careers site within the past 24 hours.
Related Analysis
- US Semiconductor Salaries: Where Posted Ranges Reach 50,000+
- Senior Semiconductor Positions Still Open in the US: October Update
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Source: SemiconductorJobs.com job index, October 21, 2026. Worldwide and US totals count each unique job posting once. Over 98% of postings were confirmed on Qualcomm’s careers site within the previous 24 hours. Evergreen talent pools excluded.