More than 1,000 Qualcomm job cuts are changing the landscape in Sorrento Mesa.
The company’s network of buildings has been a stable in that section of San Diego for years.
Now that the company has announced its latest round of layoffs with a WARN notice to hundreds of employees, there are questions over office space.
Ron Miller is an SVP at Colliers International, a company that deals with commercial real estate.
His researchers found six buildings he expects Qualcomm to either leave or sublease after the cuts.
Miller’s team was showing an old Qualcomm building to a client on Tuesday.
“It was actually vacated about 2.5 years ago during Qualcomm's last round of layoffs,” he explained.
Local
New companies are looking to move in and businesses already there are stuck playing a waiting game.
Call it a buyers’ market or one still adjusting from past layoffs, he said.
Other businesses depend on the foot traffic generated by Qualcomm employees.
Lunch spots like The Green Spot Salad Company estimate the company brings in 10 percent of the people that walk through the front door.
The recent round of layoffs is part of an effort cut costs by $1 billion. Qualcomm was under pressure to improve its earnings to fend off the now-defunct hostile takeover bid by Broadcom Inc. when it announced the cost-reduction plan earlier this year.
According to a notice filed with the state on April 18, the company was planning on cutting 1,231 employees in San Diego on or about June 19, 2018.
In all, the layoffs will take place at 33 offices connected to the company in the San Diego region.
The list of locations where the layoffs will take place can be found here.
Qualcomm employs 13,000 people locally and is headquartered in Sorrento Mesa.
