Dive Brief:
- Livanova will lay off up to 137 people at a facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry shared with MedTech Dive.
- The layoffs are part of the company’s plan to shut down its advanced circulatory support business unit, which was announced in early January, a Livanova spokesperson confirmed in an email. The spokesperson wrote that the unit was primarily based in Pittsburgh.
- The layoffs were scheduled to begin on Jan. 31, or within 14 days of that date, and will be completed by the end of the year, according to the WARN notice. Livanova did not file layoff notices in other states, the spokesperson said.
Dive Insight:
After the medtech industry had a slew of layoffs throughout 2023, including from top companies like Medtronic, Abbott and Johnson & Johnson, there have been several announcements already this year. Zimmer Biomet said Thursday it would lay off about 540 employees, approximately 3% of its global workforce, and Globus Medical cut more than 150 people in California.
Meanwhile, Illumina plans to lay off 111 people at its San Diego headquarters by March 12.
While Livanova said early last month that it would shut down its advanced circulatory support business, the company did not say at the time how many positions would be affected. The elimination of the 137 people is the “majority” of positions at the Pittsburgh facility, according to the Jan. 8 WARN notice, and includes people working at the location and remote workers.
The layoffs are expected to be permanent.
Livanova said in January it would close the advanced circulatory support business to focus on its cardiopulmonary and neuromodulation markets. The company expects a charge of up to $110 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 in connection with the move, with additional restructuring charges in a range of from $15 million to $20 million.
The company will provide more details about the restructuring during its earnings call scheduled for Feb. 21.