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Rumors abound that Motorola is laying off half its Chicago workforce (Update: layoffs confirmed)
August 09, 2025
UPDATE 31-05-2025, 12:55 P.M. EST:Android Authorityreceived a statement from a Motorola/Lenovo representative about these layoff allegations:
It appears that yes, a layoff at the Chicago Motorola Mobility office occurred. The statement’s wording of “this did not impact half of our workforce there” is a bit confusing. Does this mean Motorola is refuting the claim it laid off 50 percent of its workforce, or is it saying 50 percent of the workforce was unaffected and it did layoff half its workforce? It’s a confusing way to word a statement in either case. We’ve reached out for further clarification and will further update this story when we hear.
Still, it is good to know the Moto Z family of smartphones will continue and the Moto Mod mentioned below will likely make it to backers.
Original Article:It’s no secret thatMotorolahasn’t been doing too well sinceLenovotook over the legendary smartphone brand. While it’s great that theMoto Zline earned some good reviews and the company forged new territory with its line ofMoto Mods(combined with Motorola boasting a lot aboutwhat’s to come in 2018), you don’t have to search too hard to find information thatall is not well at Motorola/Lenovo.
Rumors are bubbling upthat Motorola either has or will lay off half of its Chicago Motorola Mobility workforce. Right now, the primary source of the story is pretty flimsy, but there are corroborating rumors that make it seem legit.
The main source isa post on TheLayoff.comwhere an anonymous user with the moniker “Ex-Motorolan” gives news on the huge purge of employees:
There is no proof provided of the layoffs, so it’s hard to take this anonymous information very seriously. However, it is not too hard to fathom it being true when there areplenty of reportsthat Lenovo and Motorola are in some serious hot water when it comes to selling smartphones.
The allegations of “Ex-Motorolan” are further supported by some posts froman Indiegogo campaign. Liangchen Chen crowdfunded over $160,000 to build a Moto Mod keyboard. However, in the comments section of the campaign, Mr. Chen implies that he has been made aware of the layoffs due to his connection with Motorola’s Moto Mod team:
Mr. Chen is concerned about the future of his Moto Mod keyboard. If he cannot get an official license from Motorola as well as access to the OTA server in the Moto Mod department, his keyboard will not work with any current or future Motorola phones. He later says that if he can work out the OTA update situation, his Mod will at least work on current Moto Mod-compatible devices.
If you combine what Mr. Chen says with the anonymous post from “Ex-Motorolan,” it gives some serious credibility to the claim that there was a massive layoff at Motorola that hasn’t yet been officially announced.
We can only assume that in the next few days either more allegations of the layoffs will surface or Motorola/Lenovo will make an official statement. What these layoffs would mean forthe future of Motorola, the line of Moto Z phones, and the upcomingMoto G6, Moto 5, and Moto Z3, is unknown.
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