Biotech giant Amgen Inc. said Wednesday that it was cutting 2,200 to 2,600 jobs as part of a sweeping plan to save more than $1 billion over the next year in an unprecedented biotech industry retrenchment.
The announcement at Ventura County's largest private employer sent a shudder across the sprawling Thousand Oaks campus, where many employees huddled around computers and telephones, listening in silence as Kevin Sharer, the company's chairman, chief executive and president, spelled out the bad news on a conference call with investors and industry analysts.
The cuts amount to 12% to 14% of the workforce and follow a string of recent clinical and regulatory setbacks for the company, particularly involving Aranesp, its top money-making drug last year, with sales of $4.1 billion.
Although there were no specific cuts spelled out for Thousand Oaks or elsewhere, the company said it would be closing production operations and reducing the size of other units.
Employees were wary afterward of speaking publicly, but privately they said the layoffs were expected but unwelcome. "It's like an earthquake when you're in California," said a sales and marketing specialist who asked not to be named. "It's not a surprise, but your heart sinks."
About 8,600 of Amgen's 20,000 employees work in Thousand Oaks, but it's still too early to gauge the extent or local effect of the layoffs. High-paying, research-oriented white-collar jobs at companies such as Amgen are exactly the kind of jobs Southern California is seeking to attract.
In recent weeks, Conejo Valley residents and local businesses told The Times that they were anxious about looming layoffs and how they would affect a thriving local economy.
"These reductions will touch many families in our community," Thousand Oaks Mayor Andy Fox said Wednesday in a statement. "The City Council, staff and our residents offer our compassion and support to all those affected."
In announcing the move, CEO Sharer said, "The initiatives announced today respond to [our] new reality by taking account of reduced revenues and appropriately lowering costs across the company. We will continue to strongly support our research efforts directed at development of new medicines for grievously ill patients."
Mark Schoenebaum, biotech analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co., called the cuts difficult for workers but "undoubtedly the right thing for the company to do."
