Broadcom Moving HQ Into Palo Alto VMware Campus

Broadcom, the San Jose-based semiconductor giant that recently acquired competitor VMware in a $69B transaction, will be moving its headquarters into the 1.6M SF campus it acquired in Palo Alto as part of the mega-deal.

Broadcom will exit the property it has been occupying at 1320 Ridder Park Drive in San Jose, according to a report in the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The address for the company’s new HQ will be 3401 Hillview Avenue in Palo Alto.

Prior to the sale of VMware to Broadcom, VMware had initiate a flexible remote-work policy, but the new owner apparently will be requiring employees on the Palo Alto campus to return to the office, the report said.

The Journal quoted Broadcom CEO Hock Tan telling employees that “remote work does not exist at Broadcom,” according to an audio recording of a meeting at the company.

The return-to-office policy applies to all employees living within 60 miles of a Broadcom office, the report said.

Broadcom closed its acquisition of VMware on November 22 after receiving regulatory approval from China, a process which apparently accelerated after President Biden and President Xi’s met at the Asia-Pacific Summit in San Francisco, according to a report in Reuters.

Prior to the acquisition of VMware, Broadcom’s real estate footprint in the Bay Area included three buildings in North San Jose in addition to the Ridder Drive facility.

The European Commission approved the deal after Broadcom offered remedies to help rival Marvell Technology; the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority also gave the acquisition its green light.

The Business Journal‘s report, citing sources, said Broadcom will retain these properties in the near term as it consolidates former VMware employees into its operations.

According to a report last week in channelfutures, Broadcom already has issued WARN notifications in multiple states regarding impending layoffs of up to 2,837 VMware employees in several states. The Virginia Employment Commission published a notice indicating that 116 workers at a Reston, VA location will lose their jobs on January 26.

The Texas Workforce Commission also confirmed in the report that Broadcom is laying off 577 employees in VMware’s Austin office, cuts that also will take place on January 26. A WARN notice in Massachusetts indicated that 150 jobs will be cut in the Bay State.

Under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988, US labor law required employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification 60 days in advance of mass layoffs.