How Broadcom is reshaping VMware: layoffs on the record

If you work at VMware, used to, or are weighing a Broadcom offer, you've probably seen layoff numbers with no source attached. This guide tracks how Broadcom is reshaping VMware using only records: SEC filings, Broadcom's own pages and state layoff notices. A WARN notice is a written warning that the federal WARN Act requires 60 calendar days before a covered plant closing or mass layoff.

Broadcom closed the deal on November 22, 2023. It filed its cost-cut estimate fifteen days later, its 10-Ks give headcount on fixed dates, and state WARN notices give sites and worker counts. Broadcom's own pages record the licensing change, and DOL and eCFR pages set your rights in a merger.

The deal on the record: closing day and price

Two Broadcom filings fix the start date. Its 8-K dated November 22, 2023 reports the deal completed that day, and the fiscal 2024 10-K repeats it: "On November 22, 2023, we acquired VMware in a cash-and-stock transaction." Exhibit 99.1, the press release, adds: "VMware's common stock will now cease to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)." Each VMware share could become "$142.50 in cash, without interest" or 0.252 of a Broadcom share. The 8-K says both forms were prorated so half the shares got each, and the fiscal 2024 10-K's auditor's report puts the total at $86,290 million.

Broadcom's fiscal 2023 10-K had given a preliminary figure of about $86.3 billion. Our April 2025 post said $61 billion and cited nothing.

Broadcom didn't keep every VMware unit. "On July 1, 2024, we sold VMware's end-user computing" business "to KKR & Co. Inc. for cash consideration of $3.5 billion," the fiscal 2024 10-K says.

The unit relaunched that day as Omnissa, and its staff didn't leave Broadcom's payroll through a layoff; they went with the sale. In the Omnissa launch post its CEO wrote that "Our 4,000 employees will be bound by a shared ownership structure."

What Broadcom told the SEC about cost cuts

Fifteen days after the close, Broadcom filed an 8-K under Item 2.05, the item for exit and disposal costs. Dated December 7, 2023, it says "the Company expects to take charges of approximately $1.3 billion through fiscal year 2025 for the implementation of cost reduction activities." It added that Broadcom "does not plan to further update these estimates" and would report the costs quarterly.

In the fiscal 2024 10-K (year ended November 3, 2024), "Restructuring and other charges recognized in operating expenses were $1,533 million and $244 million" for 2024 and 2023. Broadcom wrote that "The fiscal year 2024 charges primarily included employee termination costs from cost reduction activities related to the VMware Merger." A separate restructuring line in cost of revenue added $254 million. Fiscal 2025 came in lower. The fiscal 2025 10-K reports $591 million in operating expenses and $76 million in cost of revenue, and says the operating line "decreased $942 million, or 61%." The main reason it gives is "lower employee termination costs." Side by side, the four lines come to $2,454 million over two fiscal years:

Those four lines aren't all layoff costs. The fiscal 2025 10-K's restructuring note splits them. Employee termination costs were $1,510 million in fiscal 2024 and $428 million in fiscal 2025, or $1,938 million, and lease and impairment charges added $277 million and $169 million. The fiscal 2025 operating line also holds a $70 million impairment charge for an asset held for sale. As an example, $1,938 million minus the $1.3 billion estimate leaves $638 million.

Revenue moved the other way. Infrastructure software brought in $7,637 million in fiscal 2023, $21,478 million in fiscal 2024 and $27,029 million in fiscal 2025. Broadcom says it "increased primarily due to contributions from VMware."

Diagram by DigitalTreed, from Broadcom's December 7, 2023 8-K and its fiscal 2024 and 2025 10-Ks, November 5, 2026.

Headcount in the 10-Ks, before and after

There's no layoff count to match those termination costs in the 8-K or the 10-Ks, but each 10-K states a headcount on a fixed date. Broadcom's fiscal 2023 10-K said "we had approximately 20,000 employees worldwide" on October 29, 2023. VMware's last 10-K covers the year ended February 3, 2023, and reported "approximately 38,300 employees located in 59 countries," with "approximately 15,000 of whom work in the U.S."

As an example, 38,300 plus 20,000 makes 58,300, and 58,300 minus 37,000 leaves 21,300. Take out Omnissa's 4,000 and 17,300 remain.

That 17,300 isn't a layoff figure, because the two starting counts sit nine months apart and quits land in the same gap as job cuts. Broadcom's count then fell to about 33,000 on November 2, 2025, another 4,000 fewer. The fiscal 2025 10-K's headcount section gives no reason.

Diagram by DigitalTreed, from VMware's and Broadcom's 10-Ks and Omnissa's July 1, 2024 launch post, November 5, 2026.

Which WARN notices name Broadcom or VMware?

State WARN files come closest to a public layoff list: each notice names a work site, a date and a worker count. We searched five California EDD files, from July 2022 through the current year, plus New York's 2023 and 2024 lists. California's file for July 2023 to June 2024 has one Broadcom Inc. row. The notice is dated November 27, 2023, was received January 3, 2024 and took effect January 26, 2024. It covers 1,267 workers in a permanent layoff at 3401 Hillview Ave in Palo Alto, the headquarters address in VMware's 10-K. The file for July 2025 to June 2026 adds a second permanent layoff there: 247 workers, notice dated October 17, 2025, effective December 19, 2025.

New York's notice names "Broadcom Inc. - VMware Inc." and is dated November 27, 2023, like the first California one. It gives a February 26, 2024 start date, lists the reason as Economic and counts 169 workers. That's 2 at 2 Penn Plaza, 13 at 636 Avenue of the Americas and 154 "New York Remote Employees." No union represented them, the notice says.

The state's 2023 WARN list links the notice; its 2024 list has no Broadcom entry.

Several states' files didn't open for a plain script. Washington's database pages only by form postback. Colorado, Virginia and Massachusetts answered 403, Georgia answered 503, and Texas's site didn't resolve from our machine

For those states there's just one outlet, and Data Center Knowledge reported on December 1, 2023 that "Broadcom is releasing 158 people in Washington state." It also counted 217 in Georgia, 184 in Colorado and 116 in Reston, Virginia.

Its 1,267 for Palo Alto and 169 for New York match the state files; its other four figures stay out of our 1,683.

Diagram by DigitalTreed, from California EDD and New York DOL WARN files and a Data Center Knowledge report of December 1, 2023, November 5, 2026.

What we tested

On November 5, 2026 we saved those files and Broadcom's SEC data with plain requests, then ran a local script, warn_tally.py, over the copies. Across 7,734 California lines it found two Broadcom rows totaling 1,514 workers, and New York's three sites add up to the notice's own 169. The 1,683 total covers only files we could read, and the page shown here lists the rows as the script printed them on 127.0.0.1.

Screenshot of our local WARN tally page, the output of warn_tally.py at 127.0.0.1, November 5, 2026.

Subscriptions only: the licensing change

Even the product line changed within three weeks of the close. A VMware Cloud Foundation blog post by Rick Walsworth, dated January 22, 2024, says that on "December 11, 2023, VMware reached a new milestone" in its move to subscriptions. It goes on: "VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware vSphere Foundation, available as subscription software only, are now our two new offers." Broadcom's fiscal 2024 10-K describes "our transition from a perpetual to a subscription licensing model and our simplified product portfolio." Smaller buyers kept two options, the blog adds, since vSphere Standard and vSphere Essentials Plus Kit are still sold as subscriptions.

Old perpetual keys keep working, too. Broadcom's knowledge base article 429208 says "The expiration of the SnS does not revoke the underlying software entitlement." SnS is the support and subscription contract. The fiscal 2025 10-K adds that "VCF provides license portability, which enables customers to purchase subscriptions of VCF software."

Your rights when a merger brings layoffs

The federal WARN Act is the law behind those notices. The Labor Department's rules at 20 CFR part 639 require notice "60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs." They cover an employer with "100 or more employees, excluding part-time employees." The DOL's WARN page says the law "helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs." A mass layoff under those rules needs job losses at one site within 30 days that hit at least 33% of active full-time staff and at least 50 people. "Where 500 or more employees (excluding part-time employees) are affected, the 33% requirement does not apply."

For scale, the Palo Alto row lists 1,267 workers, above that 500 figure, though a state file doesn't settle federal coverage. A plant closing is the shutdown of a site, or of a unit within it, that costs 50 or more jobs there within 30 days.

If your employer's sold, the notice duty carries over. The same regulation says a seller's employee on the sale date "shall be considered an employee of the purchaser immediately after the effective date [time] of the sale." It adds that this "preserves the notice rights of the employees of a business that has been sold, but creates no other employment rights." Notice goes to your union representative if you have one, or else "to each affected employee." The state dislocated worker unit and the local chief elected official get a copy too.

For an employer that skips notice, California's EDD WARN page sums up federal liability as "back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to 60 days." That's capped at "no more than half the number of days the employee was employed by the employer." The federal column also lists "A possible civil penalty of $500 a day for each day of violation." California's own law goes further, the same chart shows. It reaches a "covered establishment" with "75 or more full and part-time employees." It also counts a "Layoff of 50 or more employees within a 30-day period regardless of % of workforce."

The state column rests on California Labor Code section 1400.5. It adds a "Relocation of at least 100 miles affecting any amount of employees," a trigger the federal column lacks.

Severance is different, and federal wage law doesn't require it. The DOL's severance pay page says "There is no requirement in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for severance pay." It calls severance "a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee," so the amount and any release you sign come from your company's plan or an agreement.

Health coverage after a layoff runs through COBRA, which reaches "group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year," the DOL's COBRA page says. You may pay "up to 102% of the cost to the plan." The EBSA COBRA page says it "provides temporary coverage to you and your dependents--usually up to 18 months." It also says "You have 60 days to enroll in COBRA, starting when your job-based coverage ends."

This section sums up federal and California rules and is not legal advice, so take your own notice or severance papers to an employment lawyer or your state's labor department.

What we'd do with a WARN notice in hand

Under 20 CFR 639.7, the notice to each worker must give "the expected date when the individual employee will be separated." The federal 60 days run from the notice to that date. COBRA adds a third date. Its 60-day enrollment window starts when your job-based coverage ends.

1. Find your site's row in your state's WARN file and match its count and dates to your letter.
2. Count the calendar days from the notice date to your last day; a covered federal layoff needs at least 60.
3. Read any severance offer as a contract before you sign, since the DOL treats severance as a matter of agreement.
4. Mark your COBRA deadline: 60 days, starting when your job-based coverage ends.
5. Keep the notice, your last pay stubs and benefit letters in one folder.

For the job search, our ATS-friendly resume guide deals with the file a recruiter's software reads first, and our hiring manager guide shows the other side of the desk. Before you accept a new offer, check it against BLS data with our competitive pay guide. Contract work can bridge a gap: see how to become a freelancer and our Upwork tutorial for beginners. If money gets tight between paychecks, start with our financial emergency options. For another large employer's record, our Amazon human resources case study covers OSHA and NLRB filings.

Broadcom and VMware questions

How we made this guide: On November 5, 2026 a script saved state WARN files, Broadcom's SEC data, Broadcom and VMware pages and the WARN rules. SEC and DOL pages refused that script, so their quotes came from a fetch tool; a later plain request matched each one. Facts checked by the DigitalTreed team on November 5, 2026.

First run April 2025, unsourced. Rewritten November 5, 2026 from Broadcom's filings and state WARN records, without the AI and review-site material.

Sources

• Broadcom Form 8-K, November 22, 2023 (VMware acquisition completed)
• Broadcom press release, Exhibit 99.1, November 22, 2023
• Broadcom Form 8-K, December 7, 2023, Item 2.05
• Broadcom Form 10-K, fiscal year ended October 29, 2023
• Broadcom Form 10-K, fiscal year ended November 3, 2024
• Broadcom Form 10-K, fiscal year ended November 2, 2025
• VMware Form 10-K, fiscal year ended February 3, 2023
• SEC EDGAR: Form 25-NSE for VMware, filed by the New York Stock Exchange, November 22, 2023
• Omnissa: launch as a standalone software company, July 1, 2024
• VMware Cloud Foundation blog: End of Availability of Perpetual Licensing and SaaS Services, January 22, 2024
• Broadcom knowledge base 429208: perpetual license functionality after SnS expiration
• California EDD: WARN layoff services and federal/California WARN chart
• California EDD WARN report, July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 (PDF)
• California EDD WARN report, July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 (PDF)
• New York DOL WARN notice, Broadcom Inc. - VMware Inc., 2023-0143 to 0145
• New York DOL: 2023 WARN notices
• Washington ESD: WARN layoff and closure database
• eCFR: 20 CFR part 639, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
• US Department of Labor: WARN Act
• California Labor Code section 1400.5
• US Department of Labor: severance pay
• US Department of Labor: COBRA continuation coverage
• EBSA: COBRA
• Data Center Knowledge: Broadcom layoffs officially above 2,100 post-VMware deal, December 1, 2023