Qualcomm Cuts Payroll by 700

February 5, 1999 8:58 AM, EST

Qualcomm Inc. announced it is cutting 700 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, in response to slow sales of its digital telephone technologies and increased competition in the wireless communications market.

Reductions were made at all divisions and levels of the business after a comprehensive staffing and cost-benefit review, company officials said.

The OmniTracs division, which provides satellite-based mobile communications services to trucking and other transportation industries, is affected by staff cutbacks.

Susan Hind, company spokeswoman, said the division was “still very much on track with plans to grow and support our customers.”

About 220 of the jobs eliminated are temporary positions. Another 250 people have been moved from the Wireless Infrastructure Division to other divisions.

Qualcomm, based in San Diego, is heavily involved in development of cellular telephones using Code Division Multiple Access technology.