Siemens Healthineers Layoffs 67 Workers at Morris County Facility

Siemens Healthineers recently filed a WARN notice with state officials to inform them of its plans to eliminate 67 jobs at their Morris County facility as part of its effort to streamline the diagnostics division. The Germany-based medtech firm used this notice as formal notice that these changes would take effect beginning September 7. The actual Interesting Info about عامل فروش زیمنس.

According to a spokesperson, these latest consolidations relate to the production of the Atellica Solution IM immunoassay module and will not have any bearing on other diagnostic operations in New Jersey. She added that those affected would qualify for severance and outplacement benefits as a result.

New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development

Siemens Healthineers’ Flanders Facility in East Hanover, New Jersey, may see layoffs following its decision to consolidate production of Atellica Solution immunoassay modules at its Swords, Ireland location. Siemens gave notice to New Jersey’s labor department this month as per WARN database listings; all affected workers reportedly work within Atellica IM subassembly, assembly, configuration/test areas, as reported by Fierce Medtech.

Siemens intends to implement its cost-cutting plans as part of an overall effort to streamline its diagnostics portfolio and cut costs by 300 million euros annually, starting in 2025, after all steps are completed.

Under current law, employers are required to give workers 60 days’ advance notice of mass layoffs and plant shutdowns. Governor Phil Murphy recently signed legislation mandating 90-day advance notice and mandating that employees receive one week of pay per full year they have worked at an establishment within New Jersey. Failing to comply with this new legislation could incur fines from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, while employees entitled to mandatory severance pay are allowed to receive it without approval from a court or the Department of Labor.

Flanders Facility

Siemens Healthineers may be exploring options to reshape its struggling diagnostics division as part of an overall attempt at restructuring. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Siemens hired advisers to help evaluate potential strategic alternatives – possibly including selling it off for up to $8 billion, according to multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Reuters provided similar news via an unnamed source who stated a strategic review is in progress and in its initial stages.

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics announced their plans in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice filed with New Jersey state authorities. In this notice, Siemens announced they would lay off 67 manufacturing workers at their Flanders facility in Morris County, which supports approximately 800 employees. Layoffs will take effect starting September 7 when Siemens discontinues Atellica Solution immunoassay module production there and consolidates work at their Swords site in Dublin, Ireland.

Siemens announced that affected employees are eligible for severance and outplacement benefits in connection with these latest layoffs, which come on top of 120 reported in June. Furthermore, Siemens has altered its production process for Atellica instruments by placing more emphasis on high-performance analyzers instead of less costly modules.

Atellica Solution Platform

After Siemens Healthineers reported a 39% year-over-year drop in diagnostic revenues during its second quarter, CEO Bernd Montag pledged the company would reduce costs. On a call with investors, he revealed they were “radically simplifying” their portfolio while migrating faster to the Atellica platform, with this transition estimated to cost them approximately 350 Million Euros in one-time charges (including severance payments) yet eventually saving millions over time.

That process will reportedly start in September, according to filings submitted with the New Jersey Department of Labor. According to these filings, Medtronic plans to lay off 300 employees from its lab solutions business and consolidate instrument manufacturing by moving Atellica Solution immunoassay module production from the Flanders facility in Morris County to the Dublin plant in Ireland.

The Atellica platform was developed to assist small and mid-volume laboratories in transitioning away from legacy analyzers toward an automated workflow. Sharon Bracken, head of the lab diagnostics division of Fierce Medtech, reported that legacy analyzers such as Advia Centaur and Advia Chemistry lines are nearing their end-of-life status, so their focus has shifted toward developing more automated options for point-of-care testing as well as central lab analysis. Both Atellica CI 1900 Max and compact Atellica CI 1900 feature built-in automation capabilities as well as assay menus, which can easily accommodate new tests.

Corindus Surgical Robotics

Siemens Healthineers recently purchased Corindus for $1.1 billion and recently narrowed its robot’s scope. Siemens announced this week during its second-quarter earnings call that it will no longer use the CorPath system for cardiology procedures; instead, it will focus solely on neurology surgeries – something CFO Jochen Schmitz called an action that “significantly limits our existing robotic surgery business.”

Siemens made this announcement just weeks after it revealed plans to reduce costs in its diagnostics division. In November 2022, Siemens unveiled a restructuring plan that it expects would save 300 million euros annually when completed – including charges related to severance-related obligations and narrowing of diagnostic offerings.

Siemens announced in its Q2 earnings report that one-time costs related to cost-cutting efforts had totaled 23 million euros and expects additional expenses totaling 35 million euros in the second half of this fiscal year – to help offset revenue declines from COVID-19 tests conducted in its diagnostics division.

Reports indicate that Siemens Healthineers may consider selling its diagnostics unit. According to anonymous sources cited by both Reuters and Bloomberg, Siemens advisors are considering options for the unit that could fetch as much as $8 billion from private equity firms.

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