Johnson & Johnson logs 57 layoffs in Pennsylvania as Kenvue spinoff nears

As Johnson & Johnson plows ahead on the spinoff of its consumer health business, several dozen jobs have taken a hit.

J&J is cutting 57 positions in its consumer branch in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, according to a local Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice.  

The affected employees work at J&J’s Greenfield plant, where the company produces over-the-counter products such as Pepcid and Imodium, Lancaster Online reports.

J&J did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s questions on the layoffs.

The layoffs will start rolling out April 28 and follow a previously unveiled plan to mothball the Greenfield facility, which closed last year, Lancaster Online reports.

When J&J telegraphed its intentions last February, the company said it expected to shutter operations at the plant by the fall of 2023.

The Greenfield plant is one of two nearby OTC production plants J&J recently sold for a combined $59 million, according to the local publication. The move is part of a consolidation effort as J&J prepares to spin out its consumer health business into the new company Kenvue.

Following the likes of GSK and Pfizer, J&J in 2021 announced its intention to hive off its consumer health business. At the time, the company said the process would take around 18 to 24 months.

Apart from J&J’s consumer health spinout, the company is quietly working through a global overhaul expected to trigger layoffs in multiple countries, Fierce Pharma recently reported.