A recent report put Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) at the back of the line in terms of Big Pharma companies that are hiring right now. But that is of little interest to Florida, which just nabbed the company for a new development near Tampa that it promises to fill with more than 575 jobs.
BMS is getting $2.1 million in tax incentives to open a 70,000 square-foot North American Capability Center in Hillsborough County. There, the company will consolidate jobs in information technology, marketing and finance now strung across other operations, spokesman Frederick Egenolf tells The Tampa Tribune. It expects to open in January with 250 jobs and more than double that to 579 over three years.
There was no price tag attached to the project, but BMS told the county officials handing out the tax breaks that the operation will have a $37.6 million payroll and spin off $21.2 million in capital investment. Lowering taxes is one way BMS has been holding on to a bit more of its money these days. A report earlier this year said it had been able to slice its tax rate from 23% in 2012 to an expected 16% this year.
Of course, the drugmaker needs help wherever it can find it. It will report second-quarter earnings next week, but the first quarter was pretty ugly, with a 44% earnings drop and a 27% decline in sales as generic competition for blockbuster heart drugs Avapro and Plavix ate away at its finances.
That is one reason the company ended 10th in a tally earlier this month by Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News of how many jobs Big Pharma companies are trying to fill. It listed 368, compared to the top three: European drugmakers Novartis ($NVS), which is hiring 2,740, including 1,000 in the U.S.; Roche ($RHHBY), which is looking for 1,450 employees and Sanofi ($SNY), which was listed with 1,427 openings.
- read The Tampa Tribune story