Qualcomm is reportedly considering cutting 600 to 1,200 roles in India from November as it restructures around artificial intelligence, automotive and other growth markets.
Qualcomm is preparing to reduce its India workforce by roughly 600 to 1,200 roles as part of a wider global restructuring, according to reports cited by Indian technology publications. The range would amount to about 3% to 6% of the company’s estimated 20,000 employees in the country, although Qualcomm has not confirmed any India-specific figure and has not publicly commented on the estimates.
The planned reductions are expected to begin in November, after the company completes its annual performance review cycle. In an internal memo reported by several outlets, chief executive Cristiano Amon said the dismissals are intended to support a stronger performance culture and to address areas where the business has fallen short of expectations. The memo did not give a global total for the number of positions that may be removed.
Reporting from The Economic Times suggests the India cuts are part of the same broader exercise and that the final number could be higher than 1,000, according to one industry estimate, while another research view places the impact below 3% of the local workforce. Qualcomm is said to be weighing business priorities, organisational needs, and individual skills as it decides which roles to eliminate, indicating that the review is not based on headcount alone.
The restructuring comes at a difficult moment for the chipmaker’s core smartphone business. Qualcomm, one of the world’s largest suppliers of mobile processors, is facing pressure from rising memory chip costs, which are making handsets more expensive and weighing on demand. The company has also warned that revenue tied to Apple could fall faster than previously expected, adding further strain to its handset operation.
At the same time, Qualcomm is trying to rebalance its business towards areas such as artificial intelligence data centres, automotive chips and the Internet of Things. The company has said it expects revenues outside smartphones to become the majority of chip sales by fiscal 2027. That shift may help offset weakness in mobile handsets over time, but it also appears to be reshaping the skills and roles the company values across its global operations, including its large engineering centres in India.
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