Allergan job losses part of ‘global restructuring’

Allergan job losses part of ‘global restructuring’


Neill O'Neill

ALLERGAN Pharmaceuticals Ireland (Ltd) has confirmed to The Mayo News that 25 jobs are to go at its Westport facility. The consultation process has started with the employees affected, and the number is less than the 40 that has been reported elsewhere since the weekend.
The company employs 900 people at its vast Westport campus, which is its largest global manufacturing site, and its largest concentration of employees in any location outside of corporate headquarters in Irvine, California. It emerged in Westport last week that the job losses were taking place, and were impacting some members of middle management, including long-serving employees. Some role restructuring is also expected to occur.
In July, it was announced by Allergan Inc that as part of a new global restructuring process, the company was reducing its workforce by 1,500 employees, or around 13 percent of its worldwide headcount of approximately 11,600 people. The loss of these 25 jobs is the impact of this restructuring stragegy manifesting at the Westport site.
Allergan’s Westport manufacturing plant is currently undergoing significant expansion with a USD$350 million investment in a new biologics plant. This significant expansion is on track with the building phase close to completion and validation work commencing.
The global restructuring announcement in July was designed to deliver strong future growth at Allergan, and it was stated at the time that this will ensure that Ireland will continue to be a strategic location in the Allergan network.

Takeover
Despite increased global sales in the last quarter, Allergan is taking steps to streamline its worldwide operations, just a few months after the company was subject to an unsolicited takeover bid, as the Board and senior management of Allergan look to strengthen their position in their resistance to it.
Earlier this year, activist investor William Ackman, of Pershing Square Capital Management in New York, joined forces with Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, in a repeated attempt to buy the company for tens of billions of dollars,  a move deemed hostile by industry insiders.