Dive Brief:
- Agilent Technologies, a maker of laboratory instruments, plans to lay off about 400 employees, or 2% of its global workforce, as part of an effort to reduce costs that includes some site closures, the company said Wednesday in a regulatory filing.
- Most of the workforce reduction will be completed in the first quarter of 2024, with the remaining restructuring activities expected to be finished by the end of fiscal year 2024, Agilent said.
- The Santa Clara, California-based company did not specify where the job cuts would take place but said the timing and scope of the layoffs would vary based on local legal requirements. “While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary to ensure Agilent’s long-term success and competitiveness,” an Agilent spokesperson said in an email.
Dive Insight:
Companies that make laboratory equipment and supplies have seen sales slow as their customers retrench following an increase in spending during the pandemic. A slowdown in demand from customers in China has been especially acute.
Some lab instrument makers, such as Thermo Fisher, this year have laid off workers and closed facilities.
Agilent, in its filing, said it initiated a new restructuring plan in the fourth quarter in response to current macroeconomic conditions. The company, which has projected a decline in full-year revenue on a reported basis in 2024, cited ongoing market challenges for an 8.7% drop in fourth-quarter revenue.
Agilent said it would record about $46 million in restructuring and other related costs in fiscal 2023. Consolidation of excess facilities will affect all three of its business segments, the company said. The restructuring program is expected to reduce annual cost of sales and operating expenses by $80 million. The savings will allow the company to reinvest in key strategic areas, the spokesperson said.
The company also announced on Wednesday that it has moved its cell analysis division into its diagnostics and genomics group as part of a strategy to strengthen growth opportunities for both organizations.
In September, Agilent said it agreed to sell its Resolution Bioscience business to Exact Sciences for an undisclosed sum. Agilent acquired Resolution Bioscience, which makes blood-based diagnostic tests, for $550 million in 2021.
Before reaching an agreement to sell the unit to Exact Sciences, Agilent had planned to shutter Resolution Bioscience and wind down its operations in Seattle.
