Program management at Qualcomm - Program Manager Qualcomm Employee Review

3.0
Mar 1, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Industry leading compensation which might become a hurdle if you want to switch job

Cons

Qualcomm got it's reputation & fame due to their innovative work in wireless communication (CDMA) and in last few years due to Snapdragon chipset for mobile. It's still doing lot of good work however speaking about Hyderabad office there is very little innovation and most of the teams are occupied building next revision of products (be it hardware or software). The number of program managers in Qualcomm could put many startups to shame in terms of headcount. Due to large number of teams & number of software/hardware variants for each product Qualcomm is heavily dependent on program managers for coordination activity. Just too many PMs. Qualcomm has very well defined framework for process, program planning/execution/delivery and it is a matter of time new person becomes familiar with it. Strangely at QC program manager role is technology agnostic and anybody can work on any domain as the focus is mainly on coordination, tools, reports rather than technology & strategy. Mobile business unit is primary and then there are smaller adjacent BUs (auto, compute, IOT) You stop learning after 2-3 years and merely continue doing same work again & again. You need to beat your own drum loudly for every small thing you do to get noticed (you are one amongst many). The whole rewarding scheme within PM org is laughable (you can get awarded for creating a report in xls or onboarding someone). Promotions are managed & not really based on performance (fixed cycle for each grade in most cases) It's all work all the time with aggressive timelines & personal life will be compromised most of the time. Everybody is quite busy so even though you work with many people you hardly make real connections HR is non-existent

Explore other reviews about Qualcomm

5.0
May 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Competitive Pay and good team

Cons

None, everything was pretty good

3.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits, the pay is like okay. Some cool reimbursement programs and health centers on campus

Cons

Career progression and culture varies extremely depending on department. Some parts almost set you up for failure and it's difficult to gain new skills. Lots of qualcomm teams are too scared to explore new technologies and migrate to state of the art services and are comfortable in sticking with old technology for familiarity. Also, HR does nothing if a coworker makes you uncomfortable.

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