The Layoff Club

Laid off from Qualcomm.

Qualcomm has cut San Diego in layers, 1,258 California roles in late 2023, 226 more in late 2024, then 20 separate notices inside a single week of April 2026. Individual terms stay unpublished.

At a glance

What's known about Qualcomm severance and layoffs

  • About 1,258 roles · Qualcomm's October 2023 California round
  • 226 roles · Qualcomm's September 2024 San Diego round
  • 20 notices, 105 jobs, one week · Qualcomm's April 2026 filings
  • 21 · Qualcomm WARN filings since 2025, our tracker, all California
  • Not published · Qualcomm severance terms per person
  • $97 million · Qualcomm severance-related charges, nine months of fiscal 2026
  • About 52,000 · Qualcomm workers reported, September 2025

Recent Qualcomm layoffs

Qualcomm's twenty April notices

Qualcomm's 2026 filings all landed inside seven days. Our tracker holds 20 filings covering 105 jobs noticed on April 2 and April 8, 2026, naming 16 San Diego addresses between them, the largest listing 19 jobs. Local reporting described 66 employees at 11 facilities, most of them in engineering, cybersecurity and information technology.

Previous rounds

Qualcomm layoff history

If a Qualcomm notice reached you in April 2026, the number printed on it was small. The largest filing that month listed 19 jobs, and several listed one or two. None of them carries the month's total. Our tracker holds 20 filings covering 105 jobs from that month, noticed on April 2 and April 8, and they name 16 separate San Diego addresses between them.

The two batches carry different last days, May 26 for the April 2 notices and June 8 for the April 8 ones, so two people cut in the same week can be holding notices that run out two weeks apart. Local reporting put the round at 66 employees across 11 facilities, most of them in engineering, cybersecurity and information technology, with marketing, customer service and management also cut. Our tracker's count runs higher, and nothing on record squares the two figures.

California writes its notice law around the establishment. The Labor Commissioner's Office states the duty as written notice given 60 days ahead of the order, whenever a covered establishment carries out a mass layoff, relocation or termination, owed to the affected employees and to the state. The Employment Development Department's checklist for employers puts the trigger for filing at 75 or more employees, full-time and part-time counted together, plus a planned layoff of 50 or more inside a 30-day period, a plant or facility closure, or a relocation of operations, stated there as the general rule, with the statute's own unit staying the covered establishment. Qualcomm files address by address, so one week of notices surfaces as twenty rows that each read as minor. Nothing on record says why the company files that way. What follows for you is that the count on your own notice is a weak guide to the round you were in, and our full filing history places that notice in the sequence.

The announced rounds looked nothing like this. In October 2023 Qualcomm told the state it would eliminate roughly 1,258 California roles, about 1,064 in San Diego and 194 in Santa Clara, effective around December 13, with no facility closures at either location, which CNBC measured against the prior year's headcount at about 2.5% of the workforce. Asked about it, the company pointed to its quarterly report, which said it expected the actions to consist largely of workforce reductions. On an August 2023 call, chief financial officer Akash Palkhiwala had told analysts the company would proactively implement additional cost actions. In September 2024 a notice covered 226 San Diego workers at 16 facilities, effective the week of November 12, and a spokesperson called it prioritizing and aligning investments, resources and talent in the normal course of business. Between that and April 2026 sits one 50-job filing from January 2025 that nothing in the reporting we track describes.

On what an individual gets, there's nothing on record. What Qualcomm does publish is the total. Its annual filings record $712 million of restructuring charges in fiscal 2023, substantially all of it severance, $107 million in fiscal 2024 and $39 million in fiscal 2025, and the most recent quarterly filing records $68 million for the quarter ended June 28, 2026, with $97 million across the nine months then ended, again substantially all severance, against no comparable charge in the same periods a year earlier. Those are company-wide accruals and they describe no one's agreement. What they do show is severance recorded as a real cost in every one of those years. Reported headcount moved differently over the same stretch, about 50,000 workers in September 2023, about 49,000 a year later, then about 52,000 by September 2025.

Start with three things on your own documents. Compare the notice date against your last day, since a short gap is worth a lawyer's eye, and the statute caps what a missed notice is worth at back pay plus the value of benefits, limited to 60 days or half your tenure in days, whichever comes out smaller. Your final check is due immediately at termination, accrued vacation included, and willfully missing that can cost an employer one day of pay per day the wages stay unpaid, to a ceiling of 30 calendar days, absent a good faith dispute over the amount. Then find the support paragraph, because a 2026 California notice must name the local workforce board the employer plans to work with, or say it's coordinating nothing, with contact details and a short description of what's available, and that's the fastest thing on your notice to use.

Reporting on previous Qualcomm layoff rounds

How Qualcomm's layoffs compare to other companies

Qualcomm's notices name street addresses, Morehouse Drive, Lusk Boulevard, Sorrento Valley Road, rather than one company line. The April 2026 batch names 16 of them across San Diego, which is why a count of filings runs so far ahead of a count of rounds here.

What to do after being laid off from Qualcomm

  1. File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Qualcomm's biggest hubs: California, Colorado, New Jersey. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
  2. Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Qualcomm's hub states run: California, Colorado, New Jersey, and every other state is here.
  3. Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
  4. Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
  5. Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.

Qualcomm layoff and severance questions

What severance does Qualcomm pay in layoffs?

No terms on record. Qualcomm hasn't set out a formula or a per-person number for any round our tracker holds. What the company does disclose is the aggregate, including $97 million of restructuring charges across the first nine months of fiscal 2026, substantially all of it severance. That records severance as a real cost across the company. It fixes no figure for any individual, and only the agreement in your hand governs yours.

Why are Qualcomm layoffs always in San Diego?

Not always, though the concentration is real. Of the 67 all-time filings we hold, 64 are California, 2 are New Jersey and 1 is Colorado, and the October 2023 round took 194 roles in Santa Clara alongside about 1,064 in San Diego. What's true is that the recent record is San Diego. Our tracker holds 21 filings covering 155 jobs since the start of 2025, and California carries all 21, with the April 2026 batch alone naming 16 San Diego addresses.

Is Qualcomm cutting engineers or just support roles?

Both, on the record we hold. Reporting on the April 2026 round put engineering, cybersecurity and information technology in the majority, with marketing, customer service and management also cut. The October 2023 round reached employees from engineers to legal counsel to human resources. Technical roles haven't been a protected tier in the rounds we track.

How many jobs did Qualcomm cut in April 2026?

Two records give two different counts, and nothing on record squares them. Our tracker holds 20 filings covering 105 jobs noticed on April 2 and April 8, 2026, naming 16 San Diego addresses. Local reporting put the round at 66 employees across 11 facilities. They count different things, and neither figure bounds the other, so the number that matters to you is the one on your own notice, which names the action that notice covers.

Does Qualcomm actually pay severance?

Its own filings record the cost. Qualcomm booked $712 million of restructuring charges in fiscal 2023, substantially all of it severance, $107 million in fiscal 2024, $39 million in fiscal 2025, and $97 million across the first nine months of fiscal 2026. Those are company-wide accruals, so they show severance-related costs being recorded, without showing what reached any individual.

Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Qualcomm?

In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Qualcomm's biggest U.S. hubs are California, Colorado, New Jersey. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.

Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Qualcomm?

Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.

What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Qualcomm?

Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.

Should I sign the severance agreement right away?

First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.

Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Qualcomm?

Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.