Qualcomm India Layoffs Begin in Bengaluru, With Around 1,000 Jobs Estimated at Risk

Job cuts reach Qualcomm's biggest engineering base outside the US

Qualcomm has begun notifying employees of layoffs in Bengaluru, with around 1,000 jobs estimated to be at risk across India as the US chipmaker restructures its global workforce. The first Indian notifications reportedly arrived on November 9, 2026, following the start of cuts in the United States.

The exercise is expected to extend in phases to Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi NCR. India houses Qualcomm's largest engineering and research base outside the US, with an estimated 20,000 employees working across its operations.

Senior engineers, employees with several years of service and recent recruits are among those reportedly affected. Some workers have described receiving exit notices despite positive performance ratings, while anonymous employee accounts describe extra compensation for signing separation documents within two or three days.

Qualcomm has not publicly confirmed the Indian total, the complete schedule or a standard severance package. The company declined to comment when approached about the cuts. Estimates range from 600 to 1,200 positions, while people familiar with the plans have also indicated that the eventual total could be considerably below 1,000.

The reductions follow an October memo from chief executive Cristiano Amon describing a performance review process that would also consider business priorities and the skills Qualcomm needs. They arrive as the company faces weaker smartphone chip demand and seeks more revenue from automotive technology, data centres and connected devices.

How large could the Indian reduction be?

Pareekh Jain, CEO and lead analyst at engineering research firm EIIRTrend, estimated that around 1,000 Indian jobs, or slightly more, could be affected. His assessment drew on the size of Qualcomm's Indian workforce and the reported scale of the global restructuring.

Jain described his estimate in these terms:

At a similar ratio, layoffs in India can be estimated at around 1,000 employees or a little higher than that.

A reduction of 1,000 positions would equal 5% of an Indian workforce of 20,000. The wider estimate of 600 to 1,200 positions would represent 3% to 6%, meaning between three and six jobs for every 100 employees.

The reported global estimate is about 7% of a workforce previously put at 52,000, equivalent to roughly 3,600 positions. Applying 7% directly to 20,000 Indian employees would produce 1,400 positions. The country estimates therefore reflect different assumptions about how Qualcomm might distribute the reductions.

Workforce figures also cover different dates. Qualcomm had around 52,000 employees worldwide as of September 2025. Its latest annual filing was reported to list approximately 57,000 as of September 27, 2026, across more than 200 locations in 38 countries. The earlier headcount underlies the widely circulated global estimate.

What happens next, and when?

Qualcomm's restructuring began with an internal announcement in October, followed by individual notifications in November. Analysts expect another round in January 2027, while some employees already notified say their employment is scheduled to end that month.

The reported sequence is:

• October 20, 2026: Amon sends employees an internal memo outlining a worldwide reduction following annual reviews.
• Early November 2026: Layoffs begin in the United States.
• November 9, 2026: The first Indian round begins in Bengaluru.
• November 11, 2026: Accounts of Indian notifications, estimated job losses and proposed severance terms become public.
• January 2027: Analysts expect further cuts; individual employee accounts also describe departure dates during the month.

A notification date and a final working day can be weeks apart. One employee account describes pay continuing until January 12, while others give the end of January as their departure date. Workers may therefore receive notice during one phase of the exercise and leave during a later one.

Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi NCR are expected to be included as the process continues. Bengaluru is the first Indian location identified in accounts of the current round, rather than the only location under discussion.

Why employees dispute the performance explanation

Amon described the exercise as a "performance-focused reduction" after Qualcomm's annual employee reviews. His memo said the company wanted a stronger performance culture and would address cases in which employees consistently fell short of expectations.

The chief executive also said decisions would consider business priorities, organisational needs, skills and expertise. Explaining how Qualcomm's requirements were changing, Amon wrote:

As we have expanded the business, so have the competencies and skills we require,

Amon then set out the staffing goal:

We must have the right people in the right roles so they can perform at their best and the company can continue to succeed.

Several affected employees have described strong performance records, consistently good ratings and years of service. Others said they had received no negative feedback before being told to leave. An anonymous Bengaluru employee said their manager had previously discussed a pending promotion.

A worker who said they joined in September 2025 described being called into a meeting with a manager and a human resources representative, then being told their role was being eliminated because of business requirements rather than individual performance.

For employees, the immediate issue is how those different criteria were applied to their positions. A restructuring can change which roles a business needs at the same time that it reviews individual performance. Qualcomm's memo included both considerations, while some affected workers say the explanation given in their own meetings centred on business needs.

What employees say they were offered

Several anonymous employee accounts describe a package starting with three months of salary, plus an additional month for each year of service. An extra month's pay was reportedly offered to employees who signed and returned their separation papers within two or three days.

A Reddit user identified as anonymous_Practical said they were notified on November 9. The user described three months of salary, a service related payment and another month for completing the paperwork quickly. The account has not been independently verified.

Using that reported formula, an employee with two completed years of service would receive five months of salary before the extra payment, or six months if eligible for it. This calculation illustrates the terms described by that employee; the actual offer depends on the written agreement issued to each person.

Other accounts describe materially different arrangements. An employee identifying herself as a senior ASIC design verification engineer, with six years and 10 months at Qualcomm, said she would receive two months of pay through January 12, followed by another 3.2 months of salary and a bonus. Her role involved checking that chip designs work as intended before manufacturing.

Further descriptions put the base payment at two weeks of gross salary plus two weeks for each year of service, with proportional compensation for incomplete years and a lump sum towards health coverage. Gross salary means pay before deductions such as tax.

These accounts leave departing employees with different reported payment structures. A package may combine salary paid during a notice period, compensation for ending employment, a bonus and health related support. Separating those amounts helps explain how much is payable, when it arrives and which conditions apply.

Where India's labour rules fit

India's Industrial Relations Code, 2020, took effect on November 21, 2025. Its retrenchment provisions provide compensation equal to 15 days of average pay for every completed year of continuous service for employees covered by its definition of a worker. Retrenchment is the legal term used for certain employer initiated job terminations.

The Code also requires an employer contribution equal to 15 days of last drawn wages for each retrenched worker to a Worker Re-Skilling Fund. The money is to be credited to the worker's account within 45 days of retrenchment, providing support as the person prepares for another job.

Coverage depends on the employee's actual duties and legal classification. The definition excludes people employed mainly in managerial or administrative roles, as well as supervisory employees earning above ₹18,000 a month.

Qualcomm's reported cuts span engineering levels, making the nature of each role relevant to the legal position. An employee's job title alone may leave out important details about whether the person manages staff, supervises work or mainly performs technical tasks. The written separation agreement, employment contract and applicable legal coverage determine the individual terms.

Smartphone demand is putting pressure on revenue

Qualcomm's handset revenue fell by about a quarter in its latest reported quarter. The company also faces a faster expected decline in revenue associated with Apple products, adding pressure to a business closely tied to smartphone sales.

The latest quarterly results reportedly beat market expectations, but the revenue forecast for the coming period fell short. Those two developments describe different periods: the results show what Qualcomm has already earned, while the forecast sets out what it expects to earn next.

Rising memory prices are another strain on consumer electronics. Memory chips store information and help devices run applications. When those components become more expensive, manufacturers face higher production costs and must decide how much to absorb or pass on to buyers.

Sluggish demand makes that decision harder. Higher retail prices can discourage purchases, while absorbing component costs reduces the money manufacturers retain from each device. Qualcomm's outlook is exposed to those purchasing decisions because its chips are used in smartphones.

The commercial pressure helps explain why the restructuring is taking place alongside a review of business priorities. Employees are facing departures now while Qualcomm adjusts its spending and staffing to the revenue it expects in the coming periods.

Qualcomm is seeking growth beyond handsets

Qualcomm is expanding into data centres, automotive technology, artificial intelligence infrastructure and connected devices. Data centres are facilities housing computers that process and store large amounts of information. Automotive chips support computing and connectivity inside vehicles.

The company expects growth in data centres, automotive and other businesses outside handsets to offset declining Apple related revenue by its 2027 financial year. It has also been reported to expect most chip sales to come from businesses outside smartphones during that financial year.

Amon's memo linked the company's expansion to changes in the skills it requires. For engineers, that means the restructuring is occurring during a shift in the types of products and customers Qualcomm wants to serve, as well as during weaker conditions in its established handset business.

Accounts about artificial intelligence's role in the layoffs conflict. An anonymous employee said a senior colleague attributed their selection partly to AI related changes and cost reductions; people familiar with the plans have said the cuts were not linked to Qualcomm's AI strategy. Qualcomm's public explanation of individual selections remains limited to the broader criteria described in the internal memo.

India's engineering centres sit at the centre of that transition because of their scale within Qualcomm. The concrete developments to watch are further notifications across those locations, employees reaching their scheduled departure dates and the additional round analysts expect in January.

Key Points

• Qualcomm reportedly began Indian layoff notifications in Bengaluru on November 9, 2026.
• Around 1,000 Indian jobs are estimated to be at risk, with other estimates ranging from 600 to 1,200 and indications that the final number could be lower.
• India has an estimated 20,000 Qualcomm employees and its largest engineering base outside the US.
• Senior engineers and recent hires are among those affected; some workers describe positive performance records before receiving notice.
• Reported severance packages vary, including accounts of extra pay for signing documents within two or three days.
• Weaker handset revenue and falling expected Apple related revenue accompany Qualcomm's push into automotive technology, data centres and connected devices.
• Analysts expect another round of cuts in January 2027, when some already notified employees also expect to leave.