China has stuck to a “zero-COVID” policy and is just beginning to ease restrictions after months of strict lockdowns. In Shanghai, China’s largest city, schools have just partially reopened on a voluntary basis, and shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores will gradually reopen. Other attractions, like movie theaters and gyms, remain closed. Because of these lockdowns and increasing inflation around the world, Amon predicted downward pressure in consumer businesses, but noted that enterprise businesses, driven by digital transformations, continue to grow.
Despite inflation and a slowing global phone market due to Chinese lockdowns, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told Fox Business that his firm is thriving and is not facing the hiring freeze that many other IT businesses are experiencing. “We speak about the phone market being kind of flat, with a negative tendency,” Amon said at the “Montana on the Rise” economic conference, which was hosted by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, and the Montana Chamber of Commerce. “However, the fact is that the most significant impact on the market has not been inflation; rather, it has been, I believe, the weakening of China’s internal markets due to their lockdown.”
Highlights
Twitter paused most hiring and backfills ahead of Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in May the company would treat hiring as a “privilege” among an effort to cut costs following feedback from investors. Coinbase also announced Thursday the company would extend its hiring pause “for the foreseeable future.” Fox News’ Lucas Manfredi and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Amon said unlike many other tech companies that have slowed or frozen hiring, Qualcomm has continued to grow. “Qualcomm is growing, we’re very fortunate,” he said. “I think it’s a key moment for our company that we’re diversifying. Our technology has been finding demand across virtually every industry.” Amon said Qualcomm has hired about 5,000 employees in the past six months, and has 4,000 open positions.
Qualcomm continues to thrive despite inflation, Chinese restrictions and a “flat” phone market: CEO comes via ChinaTechNews.com.