Thread regarding Qualcomm Inc. layoffs

There is a ton of EE jobs in Irvine

@Anonymous191738

can you share the skillset in mobile/iot that landed you the job? it will help us in our search too.

what specific to iot?

Here is why you will have to downsize your lifestyle. I think you were probably "in the club" at Q, which means you were getting $50K of stock grants every year. People not "In the club" get $0 every year. I knew a friend who was at Q for 5 years and very frustrated, I helped him to get promoted, and another 8 years later he made principal engineer. Until he made principal, he was very cynical about being "in the club". Once he made principal it was "well deserved" because he had "learned how to be cost effective to his employer!" go figure!

That's the double-think that happens at Qualcomm !!!

"...some I think is flat out wrong. "having Q on your resume is not longer a good thing.."... Ridiculous!." - your response is ridiculous, typical QC arrogance. People are aware of what an integration shop QC is and how little development many engineers there actually do. I worked (past tense) there and know this for a fact. This isn't to say that all QC engineering positions are like that, but its more likely than not. "...It is definitely not "working at Qualcomm" that has deskilled engineers at Q. " - well many people have very little control over the positions they find themselves assigned to at QC and it can take a while to switch to another job there, which may wind up not being much better, esp in QCT. I can tell you that we are hiring and when I see QC resumes, I can decode them and see pretty clearly their work efforts have primarily been integration-y and not development-y and they get passed over for guys with more development experience. Sucks, but thats the reality of the situation, which is why I'm saying that if you aren't doing a lot of true development, you are better off trying to leave that company and putting it behind you and getting onto a better career track. Its not you, its the QC environment - the email load (really, I went from 150+ emails a day at QC to less than 25), the meeting load (2/3+ meetings/day to 0 or 1), the crappy AMSS software thats been hacked over for 20+ years now, all the other process stuff, late night calls (never now), you name it and that is what is sucking up your time that should be spent just doing development. IMHO, the people that get promoted out of the dev roles are just digging themselves into a deeper hole that they may not be able to escape from, now that they can't fall back on those skill, so we are in agreement there. Best case is someone like Anonymous191738 who got up and left and found a much better environment for himself (and I can say that I did the same).

I think you guys are right. If you look at the large companies trimming headcount they are always hiring engineers with the "right skills" during the layoff. The sad truth is they do not want to allow existing employees to get up to speed in a new role, they would prefer to hire someone outside who has been pigeon holed with that task for 5-10 years so they can continue to do the same thing. In other words most of us at Q are pigeons looking for a new pigeon hole at new pigeon farm (chip manufacturer). Q is the only large pigeon breeder in SD. When times were good we are very handsomely incentivized and told how great we are for being "experts" in our "field" but the sad truth is we are pigeons and most companies today need people with more depth and character..

yes even though they are in seattle.

Every chip company is a sweatshop these days. That's why I never want to work at one again. Have you considered looking in the Defense sector? The pay might not be as good, but the hours should be.Boeing just got a huge contract.

I am glad you found a job you like ! For people like me who focused on HW integration and test over the past 15 yrs at QC the road is more difficult. I am slowly learning through my job search that only big companies will interview me (phone screens only so far) and when I go in they seem to have the impression that QC only builds chips and since I have been in the "same role" for so long, according to them, I am considered a high risk hire. The companies in SD are very selective if you are not a coder since they have so many applicants to choose from. In informal interviews I am steered to apply at Huawei, Mediatek, or apple but I hear they are all sweatshops from guys who work there.

I forgot to mention that since they are a publicly traded company, they also gave me a reason RSU grant. Granted, it wasn't the same as Qualcomm's old RSU grants from pseudo legacy-Qualcomm days, it was comparable to what Qualcomm gives out these days. And the ESPP is roughly the same. Finding a job wasn't that difficult for me, being that I have mobile software experience and skills that IOT companies need.

Wow. Sorry to here that. I was a Principal Engineer in software, and recently I switched jobs over to a smaller company. I'm no longer a lead, and the title at my company is Senior Engineer (since there's only two levels of engineering). But the pay difference was $5k, which they made up a $10k sign on bonus. Also, when I looked at the total package, including the 401k matching, the health plan, vacation time off, reimbursement expenses, it came out to be about the same. My new company's 401k match plan is better than Q. The health plan costs me $0 for me, and nominal for my family, though the deductible is higher and maximum out of pocket limit is higher. I start out with 4 weeks of PTO, with each year of service adding 1 additional week, with a maximum cap of 7 weeks. Gym, cell phone, ISP is reimbursed. I've started for about 3 weeks. Everyone gets in around 9am, and everyone pretty much leaves at 6-6:30pm, which is a huge change from QCT days. I'm also not use to seeing emails flying through my inbox or people calling me after hours and on the weekends, unlike QCT. We don't have a software group overseas (yeah!). So if am actually counting the hours that I work and get paid, versus QCT, I got a raise and re-earned my sanity :) It's refreshing to see that there are still companies that operate well that don't depend on running the business like a sweatshop.

Although a lot of points have been raised here, some I think is flat out wrong. "having Q on your resume is not longer a good thing.."... Ridiculous!... ... "working at QC has actually been deskilling for many engineer"... It is definitely not "working at Qualcomm" that has deskilled engineers at Q. Q has a lot of very good top notch engineers. Who do you think works on the SW that goes with the chipset making biliions of sales. IMO, it is in the last couple of years that most folks (mostly ones who have worked here for over 10 -12+ years or so and ones who are sr staff+ level engr) have lost focus of what career growth for engineers means. Career growth at Q is essentially who you know at higher level and how much have you been able to suck up to them and comply and be subservient. Promotions are pretty much based on this and this illusion of career growth is not the same as outside Qualcomm, promotions that are not true indicator of the engineers capability and true engineering growth. This of course is all doing of the individual alone. Individual choosing to climb the Q's misleading career growth ladder. Choosing to stay and work on one and same area doing intgr or same team for reason of complacency. But there are a lot and a lot of good engineers still at Q that refuse to go this route and are truly choosing the right projects and opting to grow their engineering skills and not give into the political propagandas and suck up to upper management or be complacent. These are the ones who are always on the look out of opportunities to learn things and truly grow as an engineer and a lot of them are looking outside if they fail to find any in the current state at Q. So, in summary, it is not that working at Q is what is causing the eng to be deskilled but it is the choice of the engr to move up (if that is what you can call it at Q) the ladder, the wrong one. Regardless of where you work, it is upto the individual to ensure that their skills are upto date and they are in the right career growth path and not the company.

Supply and demand situation in San Diego job market creates too much competition. San Diego job market cannot absorb all the laid off employees.

Does anyone know why John Stefanac left Qualcomm?

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing. I concur with the fact that most QC'ers are too narrowly focused and working at QC has actually been deskilling for many engineers. You only realize that once you are put into an interviewing position, then it all becomes pretty clear. If you are a guy with <10 years experience and not doing something that you are really excited about, I would make a bee line out of that place and into a company where you can develop broad skill set which will provide you with the best chances of continued work, even considering a pay cut - you'll be better off in the long run.

You Got It (The Right Stuff)/

The Principals/

Lyrics/

The right stuff/

The right stuff/

First time was a great time/

Second time was a blast/

Third time I fell in love/

Now I hope it lasts/

I can see it in your walk/

Tell 'em when you talk/

See it in everything you do/

Even in your thoughts/

You got the right stuff, baby/

Love the way you turn me on/

You got the right stuff, baby/

You're the reason why I sing this song/

All that I needed was you/

Oh girl, you're so right/

Said all that I wanted was you/

You made all my dreams come true/

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh/

Oh, oh, oh, oh/

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh/

The right stuff/

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh/

Oh, oh, oh, oh/

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh/

The right stuff/

The Boxer"/

I am just a poor boy.

Though my story's seldom told,

I have squandered my resistance

For a pocketful of mumbles,

Such are promises

All lies and jest

Still, a man hears what he wants to hear

And disregards the rest./

When I left my home

And my family,

I was no more than a boy

In the company of strangers

In the quiet of the railway station,

Running scared,

Laying low,

Seeking out the poorer quarters

Where the ragged people go,

Looking for the places

Only they would know./

Lie-la-lie.../

Asking only workman's wages

I come looking for a job,

But I get no offers,

Just a come-on from the whores

On Seventh Avenue

I do declare,

There were times when I was so

lonesome

I took some comfort there./

Lie-la-lie.../

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes

And wishing I was gone,

Going home

Where the New York City winters

Aren't bleeding me,

Leading me,

Going home./

In the clearing stands a boxer,

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

Of ev'ry glove that laid him down

And cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame,

"I am leaving, I am leaving."

But the fighter still remains/

Lie-la-lie...

Good story, good luck.

Good story, good luck.

Cool story bro

550 You are right about Q discounting other employment. Now the the Q Engineers are faced with the same dilema meaning they will drop about two levels for a job at intel or apple. The small companies need hard working people with a broad range of skills, They will not even look at Q resumes in most cases.

Turnabout is fair play. The Q interview process is overly harsh and the hr and recruiting folks are arrogant pricks that devalued all other outside company experience. I know people with 20 years experience and lofty titles that Q made insulting Sr. Engineer offers to. Three job titles lower was where they ranked outsiders. Meanwhile the whole industry knows Q employees are generally hopelessly pigeon holed into some bizarre specialty and overly political.

How many ex-QC-principal engineers are able to get similar comp at a new job?

"Gloria"/

Gloria, you're always on the run now/

Running after somebody, you gotta get him somehow/

I think you've got to slow down, before you start to blow it/

I think you're headed for a breakdown, so be careful not to show it/

You really don't remember, was it something that he said?/

All the voices in your head calling, Gloria?/

Gloria, don't you think you're fallin'?/

If everybody wants you, why isn't anybody callin'?/

You don't have to answer

Leave them hangin' on the line, oh-oh-oh, calling Gloria

QC not only needs to redefine titles, but it needs to redefine roles. Project leads and directors are just grinding junior engineers for their own glory.

While QC was still hot, many companies relish QC engineers and shed out big dollars for them. But now with the prospect of thousands QC engineers becoming available, I don’t think other companies are willing to do the same. Just a simple matter of supply and demand. Demand is definitely dying – you only need to look at Gopro and Ambarella. Gopro is down 75%, and Ambarella over 50%.

"Demotions"/

(Chorus:)/

You've got me feeling demotions

Deeper than I've ever dreamed of

You've got me feeling demotions

Higher than the heavens above ....

Does anyone know whatever happened with the redefining of the titles... At some point there was some rumor about "demoting" higher titles to lower ones?

Here is a reality check. QC hiring frenzy caused an artificial salary inflation. QC compensation has outpaced the industry standard, until recently when QC realized it could not continue to pay high salaries for doing things that return nothing. So, you will take a pay cut no matter where you go. Don’t consider it a pay cut but just back to normal. You will be glad to have a job at all.

I move before Q layoff. So Q in resume is still very good. The new employee bump up base pay from 150K to 170K. Haha still enjoy..

Advice is never go to small company. They do not value Q useless skill :-)

Beautiful/

Christina Aguilera/

Lyrics/

Don't look at me

Every day is so wonderful

Then suddenly it's hard to breathe.

Now and then I get insecure

From all the pain, I'm so ashamed.

I am beautiful no matter what they say.

Words can't bring me down.

I am beautiful in every single way.

Yes, words can't bring me down... Oh no.

So don't you bring me down today.

To all your friends you're delirious,

So consumed in all your doom.

Trying hard to fill the emptiness.

The pieces gone, left the puzzle undone.

is that the way it is?

You are beautiful no matter what they say

Words can't bring you down....oh no

You are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring you down, oh, no

So don't you bring me down today...

No matter what we do

(no matter what we do)

No matter what we say

(no matter what we say)

We're

One sincere question. Did you go from 180k to 130k ?

That could explain the 50k..

Or did you go from 200k to 150kk..

It is not just about brushing up your skills. The perception here in town is that Q engineers to not hold their weight. So you have a lot of stigma to overcome to get an offer. If you move elsewhere, you will not have the deck stacked against you to the same degree you do in SD.

If you are an engineer having Q on your resume is not longer a good thing...

I was told outright by a hiring manager from a local startup they will not talk to anyone from Q above Sr Eng level because there skills are too narrow and many have a strong sense of entitlement. He suggested I move to Seattle or Mountain View..

Advice to all engineers at Q. You need spend time to keep polishing your skills after work hours. Personally, I would spend time keeping my coding skills upto date and learning new stuff on my own time. After I put in an honest 40 hrs at Q, I would rather spend long "extra" hours, improving my skills intead of working on integration, process and politics..sending emails late at night trying to look good and one up others.. and other mundane work crap.

This exactly why I didnt move to san diego - it is a one pony town for circuit designers

You need to leave SD obviously. qcom is the only EE employer there. Irvine has more and of course bay area is the best (salary wise).