IITian Who Wanted To Quit Qualcomm Gets 15 Months' Salary After Layoff: "I Was Extremely Overjoyed"

An engineer at Qualcomm has described his recent layoff as a blessing in disguise, saying the semiconductor company's severance package and other payouts will give him financial security equivalent to nearly 15 months' salary. The employee, who claimed he had been struggling with a difficult work environment, said he had even requested his managers to consider him for the layoffs before receiving the official confirmation.

Sharing his experience in a Reddit post, the engineer said he had moved to a different team through an internal transfer around six months ago. Having relocated to another city, he hoped the move would allow him to work closer to home. However, the experience turned out to be very different from what he had expected. The employee claimed that the work culture in his new team was particularly difficult, with little support from colleagues and repeated criticism affecting his confidence. He said he had been performing well in his previous team but soon began regretting his decision to switch.

"A few months in and I realised I had dug myself a grave. The work culture is the absolute worst. I didn't mind having a poor work-life balance because I was interested in the work. What I did mind though were personal attacks. I had my own interviewer tell me that my interview was horrible. My python skills were horrible. Not much support from anyone and just gave me vibes that I don't even belong here. I was ready to learn but that didn't matter," the employee wrote.

See the post here:

Laid off - getting more than a year salary
by u/Both_Tie_1924 in qualcomm

The employee, who said he was an IIT graduate and had performed well in computer science subjects, added that he felt unwelcome in the new team despite being willing to learn. The engineer suggested that tight deadlines and pressure at work could be contributing to the behaviour within the team. Over time, his motivation declined, and he said he found himself thinking about resigning almost every day.

His outlook changed after Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon reportedly informed employees about the company's planned workforce reduction. The engineer said he saw the development as an opportunity to leave a workplace where he was unhappy. 

"As soon as I saw CA's email, I was extremely overjoyed and felt like it was a sign from God for me to escape from this hellhole. That same day I had requested my director and manager to lay me off. At the time, they told they would keep a note of this," he added. 

The engineer eventually received confirmation of his layoff a few days later. He said the financial benefits of the exit package made the situation easier to accept. According to his Reddit post, the package includes three months of standard severance pay, an additional month's salary for completing the paperwork within three days, five months of salary linked to his tenure and two months of relocation bonus that he will not have to repay.

He also expects to receive money for unused leave and continue receiving his regular salary until the end of January. Taking all these payments into account, he estimated that the total financial cushion would be equivalent to around 15 months' salary.

The employee said he does not plan to rush into finding another job. Instead, he wants to spend some time with family and close friends before returning to studying, preparing for interviews and applying for new opportunities. "As of now I'm trying to enjoy my life by being with my family and close friends for a while before I get to the grind of studying and applying. I have 15 months of financial security, so I won't rush into things as of now. The timing of these layoffs couldn't be any better for my situation," he said. 

The experience comes amid reports of workforce reductions at Qualcomm as part of a wider restructuring exercise. The company is reportedly planning to cut around 7 per cent of its global workforce of approximately 52,000 employees, potentially affecting nearly 3,600 people. In India, around 1,000 employees could be affected by the job cuts, according to reports.