Home › News › Other News
Amgen begins laying off employees
Download this story as a podcast!
STORY TOOLS 
More from Other NewsAmgen Inc. began notifying some employees today that they no longer had jobs with the giant biotechnology company.
The dismissals were among the previously announced 675 involuntary layoffs that are expected to be completed by the end of this month at the company's headquarters in Thousand Oaks. About 700 workers worldwide who accepted voluntary buyouts started leaving the company last week.
Prior to the cutbacks, Amgen employed about 8,200 people at its campus in Thousand Oaks and 20,000 worldwide. An additional 825 jobs are being cut at other company locations.
People affected by the layoffs are being offered a severance package to help them find jobs as soon as possible, Amgen spokesman David Polk said in an e-mail.
The package includes a combination of cash severance, company-paid health insurance through the end of next year and career transition services. The minimum amount of cash severance is 24 weeks of pay.
Polk said Amgen has contracted with a consulting firm to run career transition centers, provide workshops and maintain a job bank. Amgen has been contacted by a number of companies wanting to interview employees affected by the layoffs.
Exclusive job fairs for Amgen employees affected by the layoffs are being planned, Polk said.
Amgen announced in August it was laying off workers and offering voluntary buyouts to eligible employees as part of its restructuring plan to cut costs in the wake of declining revenue from its top anemia drug. The safety of anemia drugs has been questioned by several studies, resulting in new warning labels and stricter rules for how Medicare pays for those drugs.
The company did not say how many employees from each site took voluntary buyouts. Amgen's shares (Nasdaq: AMGN) rose 54 cents to $57.62 today.
Posted by teefunkclunk on October 10, 2007 at 5:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not sure where the writer got their information, but Amgen laid off all 675 employees today at the Thousand Oaks site. The only areas that did not lay off their employees are Puerto Rico and Rhode Island. Otherwise, all others received notice today.
Posted by scsc13 on October 10, 2007 at 7:24 p.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by Fred on October 10, 2007 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard that this is round one, more to come (march?). Anyone else hear this????
Posted by amgnex on October 10, 2007 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Living well is the best revenge...and we plan too!
Good luck to all of amgn's latest ex's...the most
talented, dedicated, brilliant, hard working, hard
playing, fun loving and of course hottest group of
friends I have ever had the pressure...I mean
pleasure of working with the past 8 years!
Posted by amgnex on October 10, 2007 at 8:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nope...it's a good end to a very successful career!
Loads of stock & investments...and just in time to enjoy the holidays!
Posted by HOOPDAWG on October 10, 2007 at 9:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I feel for anyone who loses their livelyhood and I wish them the best, but T.O. is too packed for me now. I would not mind seeing a thinning of the herd. If it gets anymore congested I guess it'll be my time to move on...
Posted by BeaHappi on October 11, 2007 at 9:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Layoffs are never easy. I'm glad that Amgen stepped up to the plate with generous severance packages; that is the right thing to do.
Some people have big chips on their shoulders about those who worked at Amgen. Wow...
Posted by BeaHappi on October 11, 2007 at 1:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Glad you're okay there rcamacho. It is tough to see friends go and I'm sure the morale has not been great. I hope that things look up once this is all said & done.
Posted by Tango1 on October 11, 2007 at 6:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The VTP's were under the impression that if they did not take the package when offered they would face a possible layoff in this October layoff and not receive a package. At least it is something, but to call it voluntary is a nice way of putting it. Guess "a bird in the hand is worth two in a bush" ... but, to find out after the fact that the recent group received 24 weeks in pay and the VTP's received only 16 weeks. What is up with this????
I heard they will lay off more before the end of the year.
Many of the VTP's felt if they did not take it, they would risk being sent home with nothing.
Quote.
People affected by the layoffs are being offered a severance package to help them find jobs as soon as possible, Amgen spokesman David Polk said in an e-mail.
The package includes a combination of cash, company-paid health insurance through the end of next year and career transition services. The minimum amount of cash severance is 24 weeks of pay.
Posted by Tango1 on October 11, 2007 at 6:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Forgot to mention. We are also told never to darken their door again. We are not allowed to apply for a position at Amgen, ever. I think this is a slap in the face considering it is so difficult to obtain employment with the company in the first place. We were the "cream of the crop" and now we are not good enough to set foot on the campus? Many spouses are hired in research to entice the cream of the crop to come to Amgen in the first place. We met two of them yesterday, they both were laid off on the same day. They have small children. They just bought their home at top dollar, about a year ago. Moved here from out of state to become Amgen employees and the promise of a bright future... where is the promise now?
It is poor management. Period!
Posted by bluidcowgurl on October 11, 2007 at 10:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
More layoffs continued today at ATO and LDC was let go today. I was on LOA and they had the nerve to call me and leave me a message and inform me that my package will be sitting on my front porch. Not everyone got a great package. Some were let go with 2 months salary and 2 months of COBRA, no credit for years and no bonus accredidation. Yup, Merry Freekin Xmas from Amgen. So professional! It is obvious Amgen has no qualms in legality of people on med leave or whatever. They are violating laws to get rid of people and they do not care. This is a company that clearly does not care about its people, let alone patients. So as long as the public keeps feeding into Kevin Sharer's retirement, Amgen is headed for many class action lawsuits and personal lawsuits to come. At least traffic on the 23, 118, Madera/Olsen/Lynn Roads and 101 should return to pre-Amgen growth status. Yes folks, it will only take you 10 minutes to get to Moorpark instead of 30. Now that is a process improvement! O wait, Amgen didn't come up with that one. My bad!
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
- Posts that degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
- Disparaging remarks, abusive language or obscene comments.
- Threats, whether obvious or veiled.
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.
There are 10 comments to this article.
Comments are found beneath the Yahoo! ad below.