Qualcomm has started cutting jobs in California, with aims to let go of around 1,500 people to meet a $1 billion savings commitment the company made to investors, reports Bloomberg. The job cuts are concentrated in California, but layoffs will also occur at other locations. The company currently employs around 33,800 people globally. “We first evaluated non-headcount expense reductions, but we concluded that a workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success, which will ultimately benefit all our stakeholders,” Qualcomm said in a statement to Bloomberg. In January, Qualcomm pledged to improve earnings by cutting its expenses by $1 billion via a cost reduction plan “designed to align our cost structure to our longterm margin targets.” Qualcomm is due to file Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notification notices over the next few days to the state of California, which will likely give further insight into the layoffs. The WARN notices are mandatory for companies that undergo mass layoffs of 50 or more employees within a 30-day period. It also requires the company to give affected employees 60 days notice that they will be let go. Qualcomm will offer severance payments to those affected by the layoffs. Qualcomm cut thousands of jobs in 2015 and has struggled with falling sales over the past few years. In January, Qualcomm was hit by a $1.2 billion fine from the EU for violating anti-trust laws in a series of deals with Apple. Qualcomm was also the subject of a tumultuous takeover bid by Broadcom for several months, but that was dropped after US President Donald Trump blocked the deal in March for national security reasons. @Aviontics (Marlon Deinmodei)