Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) employees numbering 100 will be moved from its Thousand Oaks headquarters to its offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. Those to be relocated will join teams that they already work with.
“The reason for this move is to align and advance functional capabilities,” explained a spokesperson for Amgen Carol Pawlak.
Between 12 and 18 months
This is part of wider restructuring efforts being undertaken by Amgen following the laying off of 500 workers in its California headquarters. In Thousand Oaks, Amgen has a workforce of about 5,500 employees. At its research facility that is located in the south of San Francisco, the employee count is approximately 500 people. The layoffs will be carried out in the course of one year and one and a half years.
By reshuffling its employees, Amgen is just following a trend in the sector where pharmaceutical firms are preferring to set up small research and development hubs in places that are considered scientific hotspots instead of investing exclusively in places that are isolated and non-strategic. For instance, Amgen made it known in 2015 of its intentions to expand in hotspots such as Francisco and Cambridge as it accelerated its exit from facilities in Washington and Colorado.
Role change
In the wider restricting effort that will affect 500 employees, some will also be required to change jobs or even seek alternative employment. Besides the R&D unit, the capability center will also be affected with about 50 employees based in Thousand Oaks slated for relocation to Tampa, Florida where they will be housed in a new capability center the pharmaceutical giant is setting up and whose opening is slated for October. The center will offer such business services as business support and staff support. Approximately 450 employees will be working there.
The restructuring efforts which involves layoffs come weeks after the chief executive officer of Amgen, Robert Braway, revealed in a meeting with President Donald Trump that the firm would be adding 1,600 jobs in the course of this year.
In Monday’s trading session, shares of Amgen Inc fell by 0.11% to close the day at $163.89.
