Companies continually turned to cost-cutting measures this year in response to fears of a recession and market challenges that were still lingering as the economy bounced back from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Microsoft, Google and Facebook owner Meta all announced mass layoffs, resulting in tens of thousands of employees losing their jobs. While the total number of job cuts in medtech did not come near to the number slashed by Big Tech companies, the industry frequently turned to layoffs to reduce costs this year.
Boston Scientific announced plans to lay off 120 people in February. Johnson & Johnson shortly after disclosed layoffs of around 350 people at its surgical robotics units, and 3M said it would cut as many as 8,500 jobs in two announcements.
Multiple diagnostic and laboratory companies also laid off workers throughout the year, as their COVID-19 testing businesses dropped from peaks seen during the early years of the pandemic. Cue Health was one of the first medtechs to announce job cuts, with a January announcement that it would lay off 388 people, a workforce reduction of about 26%. Thermo Fisher and Abbott followed with their own layoffs amid the COVID-19 testing downturn.
Most recently, Labcorp and Siemens Healthineers have both announced plans to lay off hundreds of employees at locations in New Jersey. Siemens also plans to consolidate some of its New Jersey manufacturing in Dublin as part of a restructuring and cost-cutting plan announced at the end of 2022.
After a bit of a lull in announcements this summer, companies’ filings or announcements to implement more layoffs have picked up. Despite the cost-cutting measures seen this year, the industry overall reported a stable economic environment in the third quarter, with some companies signaling that the fourth quarter would be similar.
Here is a collection of MedTech Dive’s coverage of medtech layoffs this year: