Used to be great, going downhill at alarming rate - Senior Staff Engineer/Manager Qualcomm Employee Review

3.0
Oct 9, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Had a scrappy, start up feel to it until a few years ago to the point that it was famous as one of the most nimble big companies around. Personally I had a great career at Qualcomm, starting as contractor and ending as Sr Staff/Mgr in 8 years. I consider myself fortunate to have joined while the start up vibe was still around.

Cons

Sadly, in the past 2-3 years, the company began to rest on its laurels and shun all risks. It was as though the entire senior management collectively went into "rest and vest" mode. Management kept talking about "Adjacent markets" to phone/tablet business without ever tracking it seriously. This despite the well known risks of depending on just two major customers for the bulk of its phone business. The results are now painfully obvious to see. Sadly, it is the rank and file engineers that are getting laid off and not the execs that blundered in the first place. The topping on the cake was labelling this the "Qualcomm way".

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5.0
Jun 24, 2026
Anonymous intern
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CEO approval
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Pros

Great People Great Work Environment

Cons

the weather at austin during summer isn't that great at times.

4.0
Jun 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great design team. Learn a lot in the project. Great resources for self motivated technical improvement.

Cons

Big wave of talented engineers leaving in some critical departments. CEO lacks responsibility on the company development. CEO and CFO have been selling their stocks a lot every year.

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