Huawei to lay off staff from US operations: Report

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is planning to lay off employees in the United States as the Chinese telecoms equipment company struggles with its US blacklisting, as per a report by the Wall Street Journal.

As per the report, the layoffs are expected to affect jobs at Huawei's US-based research and development subsidiary Futurewei Technologies, which employs around 850 people in research labs across the country.

It is rumored that the layoffs could be in the hundreds, though an exact number was not provided. Huawei's Chinese employees in the US were being given an option to return home and stay with the company. The report states that some employees have already been notified of their dismissal, while more planned job cuts could be announced soon.

The development comes after the Commerce Department decided to put Huawei on its so-called "entity list". US officials say Huawei gear poses a security risk as the company conducts espionage on behalf of the Chinese government. However, Huawei has denied those charges and insists it is an independent firm.

Ever since it was put on the “entity list”, employees have faced restrictions in communicating with their colleagues in Huawei's home offices located in China.

Last month, US President Donald Trump stated at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, that he would allow some US tech sales to Huawei to resume but the company will stay on the entity list until the conclusion of talks between Washington and Beijing to resolve their ongoing trade war.

Given the tricky state of relations between China and US, it will be some time before employees could see any respite from the diplomatic crossfire in which they have been caught.