Thermo Fisher cuts 154 workers in another round of San Diego layoffs – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Thermo Fisher Scientific is laying off 154 people in San Diego, citing a downturn in demand for COVID-19 tests and changes in the economic landscape.

This reduction in workforce comes approximately one month after Thermo Fisher laid off 230 employees at three San Diego sites.

The latest layoff impacts 123 workers — mostly manufacturing roles — at the company’s 6190 Cornerstone Court location. There were also 12 people let go from Thermo Fisher’s facility at 9600 Kearny Villa Road and 19 people at its 9440 Carroll Park Drive site.

The layoffs are effective May 6 and not all employees at these facilities are impacted, according to the WARN notice filed with the state. The company cited the same reasoning verbatim for layoffs in this week’s notice as in the previous layoff.

“The separations described above are due to unforeseeable business circumstances caused in part to a sudden downturn in demand for COVID-19 testing products and other evolving economic and business conditions,” wrote Nancy Austin, Thermo Fisher Scientific’s vice president of human resources (Genetic Sciences Group) in the WARN notice.

This news also echoes last month’s layoff where Thermo Fisher made the steepest cuts in workforce — 183 people — at its Cornerstone Court location.

“Thermo Fisher Scientific continuously evaluates its global operations to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in meeting our customers’ needs,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “In alignment with this ongoing effort, we have made the decision to adjust staffing levels at San Diego-area sites to remain in line with current manufacturing volume demands.

“Decisions that impact colleagues and their families are never taken lightly. However, these proposed actions are designed to better help us serve our customers, strengthen our global competitive position, and provide long-term growth and success of our organization.”

The global life science company is based in Waltham, Mass., and has approximately 130,000 employees globally, as of Dec. 31, 2021, according to its annual financial filing. The company’s website says its Carlsbad site has more than 2,200 employees.

Thermo Fisher is among other life science companies who expanded during the pandemic and in recent months, have scaled back their workforce as a result of demand for COVID-19 tests and federal funding dropping.

During the pandemic, Thermo Fisher expanded its local capacity to produce COVID-19 testing solutions by acquiring San Diego-based Mesa Biotech for $450 million.

Thermo Fisher’s Cornerstone Court site and its Carroll Park Drive facility are associated with the COVID-19 test maker Mesa Biotech, according to property records.

During the company’s most recent earnings call, Thermo Fisher executives addressed how the decline in COVID-19 testing has affected the business.

While Thermo Fisher’s overall revenue is up year over year, its 2022 COVID-19 testing revenue was down 10 percent, or $4.2 billion compared to the previous year, according to the company’s quarterly report. Its COVID-19 testing-related profits were also down.