Abbott Cutting 1,000 Jobs

Drug and medical device maker Abbott Laboratories said it will cut 1,000 jobs as part of a multiyear effort to lower spending on its medical testing business. The cost-cutting plans were disclosed in a regulatory filing. 

Abbott said the plan will save the company $150 million before taxes, primarily by transferring manufacturing operations to Europe.

Abbott’s diagnostic division accounted for $3.2 billion, or 12%, of total revenue last year. The company sells a variety of blood and urine tests used to diagnose various diseases and medical conditions.

The company said the actions will cost $370 million before taxes, with about $150 million of that amount falling in the second half of 2008. Only about 100 jobs will be cut this year, according to a company spokeswoman Melissa Brotz, with all 1,000 jobs eliminated within four years.

As part of the restructuring plan, Abbott said it will close its Pasadena, CA, manufacturing site and eliminate positions at sites in Santa Clara, CA and Lake Forest, IL.

Brotz said Abbott is committed to its diagnostic business, which had sales growth of 16% in the first half of the year.

“We’re being proactive here and are looking to make this business stronger by addressing redundancies and excess capacity,” Brotz said.

Most of the operations will be transferred to factories in Ireland, Brotz said, adding that the company’s diagnostic business has been growing faster in Europe than in the United States.

SOURCE: USA TODAY