In the wake of an aggressive takeover bid and shareholder angst, chip maker Qualcomm recently began cutting jobs as part of an effort to reduce costs.
The company reportedly filed notices this week that it trimmed 1,231 jobs in its native San Diego and another 269 positions in Silicon Valley.
The company told Bloomberg, which initially reported the layoffs, although it originally evaluated “non-headcount” expenses, “we concluded that a workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success, which will ultimately benefit all our stakeholders.”
Qualcomm, whose chips power many of the world’s mobile devices, was the subject of an unsolicited takeover effort from fellow chip maker Broadcom late last year and early this year. Broadcom officials were set to win over shareholders at Qualcomm’s annual meeting in March before the Trump administration issued an order blocking a merger on national security grounds.
In an effort to appeal to shareholders before the vote, however, Qualcomm in January vowed to cut $1 billion in costs in order to raise profits.
The company, which also laid off thousands amid a restructuring in 2015, currently employs about 34,000 people worldwide, Bloomberg noted.
“We recognize this and have offered affected employees supportive severance packages to reduce the impact of this transition on them,” the company said in a statement.
