CAMPBELL — Tech and non-tech companies have revealed plans to slash hundreds of Bay Area jobs, with one local company telling state officials that it’s having trouble raising cash for ongoing operations.
All told, the latest rounds of layoffs have heralded the elimination of 405 Bay Area jobs, according to official notices filed with the state’s labor agency.
Most of the layoffs are by tech companies, which intend to eliminate 331 jobs in the Bay Area, according to the new disclosures. A maker of recycled materials is cutting another 74 jobs in the region, the filings with the state Employment Development Department (EDD) show.
During 2022 and so far in 2023, tech companies have revealed plans to eliminate more than 28,700 jobs in the Bay Area, this news organization’s compilation and analysis of the state EDD WARN notices show.
In 2022, tech companies chopped more than 10,400 jobs in the nine-county region. So far in 2023, Bay Area tech job cuts have totaled slightly more than 18,300, according to the analysis.
Here are the details of the most recent job cuts reported to the EDD that are affecting workers in the Bay Area:
— Qualcomm, a maker of communications and semiconductor devices, is cutting 194 jobs in Santa Clara. Qualcomm is also cutting 1,064 jobs in San Diego, for a total of 1,258 in California. These layoffs are slated to be effective on Dec. 13. In two rounds of layoffs this year, Qualcomm has chopped 278 Bay Area jobs.
— ChargePoint, the operator of an online network of independently owned electric vehicle charging stations, is cutting 79 jobs at the company’s headquarters in Campbell. These layoffs are slated to take effect on Nov 6.
— Astra Space Operations, a spaceflight company, is eliminating 58 jobs at its headquarters in Alameda. These cutbacks went into effect on Oct. 3, but the filing wasn’t posted until this week by the EDD. Since late 2022, Astra Space has cut a combined 122 jobs.
— Newark Group has decided to chop 74 jobs in Santa Clara. Newark Group makes recycled paperboard, liner board, industrial tubes, cores and other converted products including book covers and packaging items. These layoffs are scheduled to occur starting on Nov. 15 and could stretch to January 2024.
The three tech companies described their job cuts as permanent.
The layoffs that are being planned by Newark Group are part of a permanent shutdown of their facilities in the South Bay.
“Newark Group will permanently cease ongoing operations at its facility located at 525 Mathew Street in Santa Clara,” Melissa Burns, senior human resources manager, said in the WARN notice. The operations will wind down over a period of time and be completed by January.
The three companies all said the job cuts were expected to be permanent.
A particularly dire warning was included in the filing by Astra Space, which indicated in the letter to the EDD that it had begun to face a cash squeeze.
Astra Space shared with the EDD a communique that it issued to its employees that included information about the rocket launch company’s financial struggles.
“As many of you are aware, we have been actively working on raising capital to extend Astra’s financial runway,” Chris Kemp, Astra Space’s chief executive officer, stated in the letter to workers. “To date, we have not been able to secure the funds needed to cover our current burn rate.”
As a result, Astra Space was obliged to slash its costs, including staffing reductions.
“This has led us to evaluate expenses across the company and find ways to reduce spend,” Kemp said in the letter to Astra Space workers. “In connection with this expense reduction, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate a number of positions at the company.”
