FILE: A sign is posted in front of a Broadcom office on June 03, 2021 in San Jose, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesSan Jose-based Broadcom has closed its $69 billion acquisition of VMware, and a massive layoff round is next on the tech giant’s agenda.
Broadcom, a semiconductor and software company, is laying off 1,267 VMware workers based in Palo Alto, according to a notice filed Monday by Broadcom under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which has companies give 60 days’ notice to employees before they are let go.
Broadcom will also enforce its strict return-to-office policy for its newly acquired staff, reports say.
The company sent an email Monday to the VMware workers, announcing the layoffs and telling them they would first get a “non-working paid notice period,” Business Insider reported. The WARN notice said the layoffs will kick in on Jan. 26, 2024.
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VMware makes software for cloud computing and employed around 38,300 people as of this February, per a March filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the purchase by Broadcom meant that layoffs were almost assuredly around the corner; as Bloomberg reported, Broadcom has been following a playbook for growth where it buys companies with lots of customers, then cuts costs while trying to keep engineering talent.
The VMware workers that remain will find a starkly different corporate culture, according to media reports. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan told staff Tuesday, per the Silicon Valley Business Journal, that VMware’s remote-friendly policies would be coming to an end.
“Remote work does not exist at Broadcom,” he said, according to the outlet, before reportedly clarifying that sales workers and employees living more than 60 miles away from a Broadcom office would be able to stay remote.
“Any other exception, you better learn how to walk on water, I’m serious,” Tan continued, per SVBJ. Broadcom expects workers to start coming into the office by Dec. 4, Business Insider reported.
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At the Tuesday meeting, VMware workers asked Tan about employee-resource groups at Broadcom and he replied, “That’s an alien concept to me,” according to Business Insider. Workers also asked what Broadcom celebrates, and Tan said they don’t do anything for holidays company-wide, per the outlet.
One thing that won’t change for VMware employees is their home office. According to SVBJ, Tan is turning VMware’s sprawling Palo Alto offices into Broadcom’s new headquarters.
Broadcom did not immediately respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.
Hear of anything happening at Broadcom or another tech company? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at [email protected] or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
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