GoPro to cut total workforce by 4%, reduce office space

GoPro  said it is putting in place a restructuring plan that includes a global workforce cut of about 4% and reducing its office space to save on operating costs.

The wearable-camera maker on Tuesday didn’t detail how many employees would be affected by the headcount reduction, but it employed 930 people as of Dec. 31, according to its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Catalent lays off 130 staffers at massive Indiana facility being sold to Novo Nordisk

Despite a multi-billion-dollar takeover bid from Novo Holdings, contract manufacturer Catalent appears to be continuing with the internal restructuring scheme it unveiled last year.

Catalent will lay off approximately 130 staffers at its massive manufacturing and filling plant in Bloomington, Indiana, a company spokesperson confirmed over email Thursday.

The staff reductions are new and unrelated to the roughly 300 positions the company chopped as part of its cost-cutting campaign between October and December 2023.

“As part of Catalent’s commitment to driving long-term sustainable growth, the company has been focusing on increasing efficiencies and reducing costs across our business,” the spokesperson explained in an emailed statement.

Coupled with those efforts, Catalent made the “difficult, but necessary” decision to cut both current and open roles at the Bloomington site, she added.

Barclays to cut hundreds of jobs across its investment bank

Barclays Plc is preparing to cut several hundred jobs within its investment bank division as the firm embarks on a yearslong efforts to trim costs and boost profits within the unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The cuts will affect staffers in global markets, research and the firm’s investment banking arm, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information. They are expected to take place in the coming months and are part of the firm’s annual cutting of low performers, the people said.

“We regularly review our talent pool to ensure that we can invest in high-performing talent, execute on our strategy, and deliver for our clients,” Barclays said in an emailed statement, which noted it hasn’t finalized the number of roles included in this year’s review.

In recent months, Wall Street giants from Citigroup Inc. to JPMorgan Chase & Co. have turned to job cuts in response to the global slump in dealmaking and capital markets activity. At Barclays, the moves come as the company is kicking off a lengthy push to improve the profitability of its investment bank division, which has been stung by that dearth of activity as well as higher-than-usual attrition among dealmakers.

Stanley Black & Decker to lay off 192, close Fort Mill, South Carolina plant

In March 2024, Stanley Black & Decker announced that it would close its Fort Mill, South Carolina plant, which produces DeWalt drills, and lay off 192 employees. The plant is located at 4260 Pleasant Road, outside Carowinds park. 

 

The company's global vice president of manufacturing operations, Steve Maddocks, said that the plant will close in four stages, beginning May 10 with 158 layoffs.

 

The company filed a WARN notice on Monday with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. That document is required when companies plan large closures or layoffs that will impact workers. The 4260 Pleasant Road facility will be closed between May 10 and the end of the year, according to the notice.

Stanley Black & Decker makes DEWALT cordless power tools in Fort Mill.

In 2017 the company announced it would move into a 345,000-square-foot facility in Lakemont Business Park, across Carowinds Boulevard from the Carowinds amusement park. That move would bring a $31 million investment and 500 new jobs, York County economic development officials said at the time.

Stanley Black & Decker officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

The new layoffs filing is the 11th WARN notice in South Carolina this year, but the first for any company in the Rock Hill region.

 

About Stanley Black & Decker
According to its website, Stanley Black & Decker began in 1843 and is headquartered in Connecticut. The Fortune 500 company includes brands like DeWalt, Craftsman, Stanley, Cub Cadet, Hustler and Troy-Bilt.

It has more than 50,000 employees.

Dublin, Pennsylvania, company Alpha Z Charlotte Industrial owns the Stanley Black & Decker building in Fort Mill. It’s on almost 37 acres and also includes an address on Rubin Center Drive.

The building was constructed in 2018. The owners bought the site in 2019 for $28.8 million, according to county land records.

Pfizer stops buildout of $350M Seagen plant, leaving 120 workers' roles in question

• Update Apr 3, 24: Pfizer will layoff 119 employees in Everett, WA on June 3, 2024 as indicated in a WARN notice.

When Pfizer completed its $43 billion buyout of Seagen in December, CEO Albert Bourla said that the New York pharma giant was not just gaining the Seattle biotech’s “golden eggs,” but instead was “acquiring the goose that laid the golden eggs.”

 

Less than three months later, it’s clear that the goose did not include Seagen’s ambitious manufacturing facility under construction, 13 miles north of its current headquarters.

Pfizer has confirmed a report over the weekend from the Puget Sound Business Journal that it is shutting down construction of the $350 million, 270,000-square-foot facility in a business park in Everett, WA.

Seagen had embarked on the manufacturing project to reduce its reliance on contract manufacturers for supplies of its commercial and clinical products in its deep oncology pipeline.

“Pfizer regularly evaluates our manufacturing network to ensure capacity is effectively utilized based on projected product demands. After careful evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to wind down construction of the site,” Pfizer said in a statement.

Seagen’s 120 employees who were working on the initial setup of the new site “will be impacted,” Pfizer said. The company will “make every effort” to place them in open roles at Seagen’s headquarters in Bothell, according to a spokesperson.

Northrop Grumman cutting 1,000 jobs in Southern California's space sector

 Northrop Grumman, a defense contractor, announced plans to lay off up to 1,000 employees in Southern California's space sector. The affected employees work at facilities in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Azusa. 

The company declines to explain the cause of the layoffs. Separately, it disclosed in a January financial filing that the U.S. government had terminated a classified space program, reducing its backlog by $2 billion.

Northrop Grumman issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices to employees that might be laid off on Jan. 26. The news of the potential layoffs was first reported by Space News.

“We’re actively working to match impacted employees with existing job openings and opportunities across Northrop Grumman,” the company told Aviation Week on Feb. 27. “These efforts are ongoing, and a higher number of employees received WARN notices than may ultimately be impacted.”

The prime manufacturer’s Space Park facilities have about 7,500 employees.

Northrop Grumman’s planned layoffs come just a few weeks after NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in nearby Pasadena announced plans to cut nearly 600 jobs amid budget uncertainties and an ongoing review of NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission.

Southern California has the world’s largest cluster of space companies and government agencies. It also hosts large facilities for other prime aerospace manufacturers, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, RTX and SpaceX. The region also has an ever-growing cadre of space startups. Still, absorbing nearly 1,600 workers in the span of a few months might be more than hiring companies and government agencies can digest.

The layoffs come after other startups also trimmed their number of staff last year amid slower-than-expected revenue growth, a more difficult environment for raising venture capital and higher interest rates. For instance, last year launch company Virgin Orbit of Long Beach went bankrupt and laid off its 750 employees. Astra, a rocket engine manufacturer based in Alameda, also laid off dozens of employees. 

Evonik to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide by 2026

German chemicals group Evonik said it expected no signs of a recovery in 2024 and announced up to 2,000 job cuts worldwide by 2026 in a bid to cut costs

Banco Santander SA cuts 320 jobs in the US

Banco Santander SA has cut roughly 320 jobs in the US as it seeks to focus more on digital operations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Spain’s largest lender laid off about 2.7% of US employees in recent days, out of a total workforce of about 11,800, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The dismissals are focused on the bank’s retail operations in the country, the person said.

“We are evolving our US business, investing in digital capabilities and simplified processes to adapt to changing customer needs,” Santander said in an statement in response to questions from Bloomberg. “These steps have resulted in an update to our staffing model that impacts a small percentage of our branch colleagues. We will continue to support them throughout this process and are working to provide internal opportunities, where possible,” it said, without providing further details.

Although Santander is best known as a retail bank with large branch networks in several countries, it has been pushing in recent years to focus more on digital operations in markets where it doesn’t have a strong position, such as the US. Its main retail markets include Spain, Brazil and the UK.

Shiseido to cut 1,500 job in Japan through anticipated retirement program

The Japanese cosmetics giant intends to transform its business in Japan. The plans includes an early retirement incentive plan for employees in Japan that is estimated to result in about 1,500 voluntary leaves, almost 4% of its global workforce.

 

 

As part of its transformation plan, Shiseido also wants to concentrate its activities on “brands, products, and touchpoints with high growth potential and profitability."

In particular, Shiseido wants to boost its online sales in Japan, increasing them to 30% of its national turnover, compared to barely more than 10% currently, through increased collaboration with e-retailers and improvement of its own e-commerce sites.

Shiseido Japan aims to optimize efficiency in terms of cost of goods sold, marketing investments, and other expenses. The company expects a cost reduction of 25 billion yen over the next two years.

Shiseido has reported a nearly 40% slump in earnings in 2023, impacted by China’s sluggish recovery post-Covid and a step decrease of its sales in travel retail.

For fiscal 2024, Shiseido has forecast its net income will grow by 1.1% to JPY22 billion (EUR 136.7 million at current exchange rates), and that revenue will grow by 2.8% to JPY1 trillion (EUR 6.2 billion).