The WARN notice from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, which the state received on June 8, said the layoff goes into effect on September 7. It cited a variety of external economic headwinds.
A Siemens Healthineers spokesperson confirmed to MassDevice that the company plans to let go of roughly 60 manufacturing workers at the 800-employee facility in Flanders. The company is doing away with Atellica Solution IM (immunoassay) module manufacturing at the New Jersey site as it consolidates all of its Atellica IM manufacturing to its Swords site in Dublin, Ireland.
Upon separation, the affected Flanders employees will be eligible for severance and outplacement benefits under the terms of the company’s policy. They will also have the opportunity to apply for other positions within the Siemens Healthineers organization and the broader group of Siemens companies.
The layoff news in New Jersey comes about a month after Siemens Healthineers released results for its second quarter ended March 31. During the quarter, revenue at the company’s Diagnostics business fell 39% on a comparable basis due to tapering rapid COVID-19 antigen test demand.
CEO Bernhard Montag spoke during the earnings call about radically simplifying the Diagnostics business, including doing away with legacy platforms in favor of the company’s Atellica instruments. The company had previously announced in November 2022 that it plans to halve the number of diagnostic platforms it offers in the coming years.
Said Montag: “To some extent, the deeper the cuts and the more decisive the actions in this fiscal year, the more confident we can be about the trajectory moving forward.”
In addition to the Diagnostics transformation, company officials also announced plans to discontinue the use of its Corindus surgical robotics for cardiology procedures.
The company statement shared with MassDevice noted that Siemens Healthineers, at the end of 2022, announced that several measures were being put in place to compensate for adverse impacts on business performance. “These measures reduce the complexity of our portfolio, create a leaner organization, and streamline our supply chain and company footprint.”
MassDevice has reported on more than 18,000 medtech employees who have been let go since mid-2022. Generally, inflation and supply chain challenges have made it more expensive to run a business. Medtech specifically has had to grapple with lingering operational challenges and labor shortages at health provider customers.
