AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT GLAXOSMITHKLINE (09/11/21)

AUGUST 7, 2021 — GSK CLOSING CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA PLANT WITH 308 LAYOFFS. PRODUCTION OUTSOURCED TO PUERTO RICO.

The company has confirmed that it will close a manufacturing facility in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with the production of Emergen-C, a powdered drink mix vitamin C supplement, ending by mid-year 2021. 308 employees will be impacted by the closure.

According to a company statement, “After careful review, GSK has decided to close the Carlisle, PA site to consolidate volumes and generate efficiencies by moving the site’s production to our Guayama, Puerto Rico facility. Based on this decision, which impacts approximately 308 employees, production will be phased out of Carlisle by mid-2021, with a full exit by April 2022.

Reminder: Many management decisions may be driven by activist investor Elliott Management.

Update: 9/11/21 — changed employee count and full exit date.

JULY 7, 2021 — GSK CLOSING MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE PLANT

The company has announced that it will be closing its facility on President’s Island by September 2022, and laying off all 156 current workers. Layoffs began in June 2021.

Under extreme pressure from activist investor Elliott Management, GSK is planning to split in two and plans to spin off its consumer products group to concentrate on vaccines and pharmaceuticals. The facility produces Polident denture cleaning products and other oral care brands.

APRIL 22, 2019 — GSK LAYOFFS IN PENNSYLVANIA

GSK announced that it will lay off about 100 employees at its research and development center in Upper Providence, Pennsylvania as part of a reorganization that will refocus the company’s research on genetics, the immune system, and oncology.

A GSK spokesperson offered, “The future direction of our portfolio has become clearer, prioritizing innovation and moving toward delivering a pipeline of transformational medicines with a focus on immunology, genetically validated targets, and finding platforms and technologies that amplify our science. We anticipate a small number of roles will be directly impacted by these changes but continue to expect GSK’s R&D operations to grow overall with increased investment.”

OCTOBER 18, 2018 — GSK SHEDS 100 EMPLOYEES IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE FACILITY

GSK Consumer Health-Global Manufacturing & Supply, a division of GlaxoSmithKline, will be permanently laying off approximately 100 jobs at their President’s Island facility in Memphis, Tennessee. The decision was driven by the end of a contract manufacturing agreement.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 — Original post…

Brentford, London-based pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it would be implementing is previously-announced restructuring plan and laying off 650 employees in the United States; including 450 national field sales representatives and 100 “back office” employees in both their Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina offices.

In its July 2018 Second Quarter earnings release, the company noted that “Focused improvements in operating performance have helped deliver increases in earnings and cash flow.” Chief Executive Emma Walmsley also announced “a new major restructuring program, which aims to significantly improve the competitiveness and efficiency of the Group’s cost base with savings delivered primarily through supply chain optimization and reductions in administrative costs.”

For those who are following the pharmaceutical industry in the trade press, the restructuring and layoffs should come as no surprise. Especially with the increased use of consumer-direct advertising through radio, television, and targeted social media outlets and the reduction in drug “detail” sales representatives calling on physicians. Drugs coming off-patent, the rise of generic bio-similar products, and the pricing pressures of large drug purchasing intermediaries are also weighing heavily on the industry.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT GLOBALFOUNDARIES (12/22/22)

DECEMBER 21, 2022 — 220 LAYOFFS IN MALTA, NEW YORK

The company has confirmed that 220 employees at the Malta Fab 8 facility are targeted for layoffs primarily in non-manufacturing positions, and will include positions at the executive level,

According to a company spokesperson, “Based on the current macroeconomic environment, we are taking a very disciplined, proactive approach to contain costs and like many in our industry and across the technology sector, we too, are initiating a hiring freeze and taking a set of focused actions to selectively reduce our workforce,”

DECEMBER 21, 2022 — 148 LAYOFFS IN ESSEX JUNCTION, VERMONT

GlobalFoundries will lay off 148 employees in Essex Junction, Vermont.

According to a company spokesperson, "As we look to 2023, the entire semiconductor industry is facing softer demand as the overall economy slows, and although we cannot predict the depth and duration of these pressures, like others in our industry and across the technology sector, we initiated a hiring freeze and are selectively reducing our global workforce.”

DECEMBER 3, 2022 — TARGETED LAYOFFS OF 6% OF THE WORKFORCE BY THE END OF 2022

According to a company spokesperson, "As part of a recent all-employee meeting, we shared the cost-saving actions we are taking across our business in response to the current macroeconomic environment, including reducing corporate and manufacturing overhead costs as well as selectively reducing our workforce by less than 800 employees globally before the end of the year."

NOVEMBER 10, 2019 — DIVISION SOLD — 78 EMPLOYEES LAID OFF AS REDUNDANT

Santa Clara, California-based Marvell Technology Group Ltd. laid off 78 employees after assuming control over GlobalFoundries’ Avera Semiconductor subsidiary in Essex Junction, Vermont, which they purchased for $650 million.

It should be noted that Marvell is totally responsible for the layoffs — not GlobalFoundaries.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 — Original Post…

Sometimes the only way to win is to not play the game. It appears that the Santa Clara, California-based GlobalFoundaries, a manufacturer of semiconductor chips, cannot keep up with the competition and has announced the discontinuance of its next-generation chips. As a consequence of this shift in strategy, the company will lay off up to 900 employees worldwide and up to 170 at its Malta, New York manufacturing facility.

GlobalFoundries said back on June 11 that it would target 5 percent of its total global workforce of 18,000 people for layoffs this month as part of a move to better compete with its rivals. Worldwide that would mean about 900 people, or about 170 people at Fab 8, which has 3,400 employees. 

“In the coming weeks, we will be initiating a targeted workforce reduction specifically designed to improve our global cost structure and minimize redundancies that have accrued from previous mergers and acquisitions. This limited action will impact approximately 5 percent of our global headcount, with a significant portion expected to come from a voluntary separation program. The program is part of a companywide initiative to improve the competitiveness of our cost structure relative to industry peers. The workforce reduction is challenging for any organization and we do not take this action lightly. We are confident that these changes will position us to build a solid foundation for sustainable growth and continue investing for the future.” 

In jargon-filled corporate-speak…

"GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced an important step in its transformation, continuing the trajectory launched with the appointment of Tom Caulfield as CEO earlier this year. In line with the strategic direction Caulfield has articulated, GF is reshaping its technology portfolio to intensify its focus on delivering truly differentiated offerings for clients in high-growth markets." 

"GF is realigning its leading-edge FinFET roadmap to serve the next wave of clients that will adopt the technology in the coming years. The company will shift development resources to make its 14/12nm FinFET platform more relevant to these clients, delivering a range of innovative IP and features, including RF, embedded memory, low power, and more. To support this transition, GF is putting its 7nm FinFET program on hold indefinitely and restructuring its research and development teams to support its enhanced portfolio initiatives. This will require a workforce reduction, however, a significant number of top technologists will be redeployed on 14/12nm FinFET derivatives and other differentiated offerings." 

"GF is intensifying investment in areas where it has clear differentiation and adds true value for clients, with an emphasis on delivering feature-rich offerings across its portfolio. This includes continued focus on its FDXTM platform, leading RF offerings (including RF SOI and high-performance SiGe), analog/mixed-signal, and other technologies designed for a growing number of applications that require low power, real-time connectivity, and onboard intelligence. GF is uniquely positioned to serve this burgeoning market for “connected intelligence,” with strong demand in new areas such as autonomous driving, IoT, and the global transition to 5G." 

“Lifting the burden of investing at the leading edge will allow GF to make more targeted investments in technologies that really matter to the majority of chip designers in fast-growing markets such as RF, IoT, 5G, industrial and automotive,” said Samuel Wang, research vice president at Gartner. “While the leading edge gets most of the headlines, fewer customers can afford the transition to 7nm and finer geometries. 14nm and above technologies will continue to be the important demand driver for the foundry business for many years to come. There is significant room for innovation on these nodes to fuel the next wave of technology.”  <Source> 

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT WALMART (10/21/20)

OCTOBER 21, 2020 - 216 EMPLOYEES LAID OFF AT SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA TECH CENTER

With the sales of the company’s Vudu streaming service to Los Angeles, California-based Fandango, the company has laid off 216 employees at its technical center located in Sunnyvale, California.

According to a spokesperson, "We will continue to invest in areas where we have the greatest strength and are in the best position to serve our customers today and in the future. Pickup and delivery are great examples of how we’ve invested to bring digital and physical capabilities together to better serve our customers, by offering more choice and convenience.”

MAY 2, 2019 WALMART WILL BE IMPLEMENTING A NEW IN-STORE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

It appears that Walmart will attempt to do more with less — implementing a program called “Great Workplace” laying off mid-level managers (assistant managers, department managers) and and pushing decision-making authorization ability to lower-level employees. The company is also exploring automation to sweep floors and take inventory.

Under the new regime of “fewer workers, more work,” we will see store managers with around a half-dozen "Business Leads" under them managing finances and hiring directives. Those supervisors will have "Team Leads" who will supervise groups of eight to 10 front-line employees.

MARCH 31, 2019 — WALMART QUIETLY CLOSING GROCERY STORES.

Walmart has confirmed that the company is closing at least 11 US stores across the United States.

The stores closures include one Walmart Supercenter in Lafayette, Louisiana, and several smaller Walmart Neighborhood Market stores in Arizona, California, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

The closing date for most of the affected stores is said to be targeted for April 19, 2019.

Original post…

Walmart Optical Lab in Fayetteville, North Carolina has announced the layoff of 150 employees. The corporate-speak statement noted, “In response to changing business needs, we are making adjustments at our Walmart Optical Lab in Fayetteville to help ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time. We are committed to helping the associates impacted by this decision take advantage of new opportunities and are hopeful that we will be able to help many of the associates find other roles at nearby Walmart stores or Sam’s Clubs.”

In a similar move Walmart Optical Lab in Crawfordsville, Indiana laid off 108 employees. The corporate-speak statement noted, “In response to changing business needs, we are making adjustments at our Walmart Optical Labs in Crawfordsville to help ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time,” a Walmart spokesman told RTV6 in an email. “We are committed to helping the associates impacted by this decision take advantage of new opportunities and are hopeful that we will be able to help many of the associates find other roles at Walmart stores or Sam’s Clubs.”

Walmart operated three optical centers (Dallas, Texas, Crawfordsville, Indiana, and Fayetteville, North Carolina) which serve all of the Walmart stores with optical centers. Prescription eyeglasses are the only product that Walmart manufactures, start-to-finish, in-house.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?