Manufacturing operations are particularly hard hit in layoffs announced yesterday by Abbott Labs. More than half of the 1,900 positions being eliminated are on or near the Chicago-area drugmaker's factory floor.
The cuts are the result of the company restructuring its pharma commercial and manufacturing operations. The announcement was buried within the deluge of financial data in its fourth-quarter earnings report and analyst briefing.
Half of the 1,900 job cuts will happen immediately, reports the Chicago Tribune; the rest, over the next several years.
Drug development and approval difficulties drove the restructuring, with help from Abbott's continuing digestion of chemical company Solvay's pharma unit. The late 2009 acquisition was followed by 3,000 job cuts announced in 2010, earning the drugmaker a spot on the Fierce top 10 layoffs list.
- here's the Abbott release
- see the article