Dive Brief:
- Dexcom will lay off 535 employees in California, adding to the medical device industry’s long list of job cuts this year.
- The expected first date of separation is July 26, and the layoffs are connected to one site in San Diego, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing with California.
- “Dexcom has decided to centralize its [U.S.] manufacturing operations in Mesa, Arizona, and refocus our San Diego operations as a Global Center of Excellence for Product Innovation,” company spokesperson James McIntosh wrote in an emailed statement. He added that Dexcom is offering support for employees, such as allowing them to apply for similar roles at another U.S. site with relocation assistance.
Dive Insight:
The layoffs continue the consistent stream of job cuts in the medtech industry over the past 18 months. This year alone has seen numerous layoffs from top medical technology companies, including Medtronic, Zimmer Biomet, Illumina and Baxter. Smaller companies like Osso VR, Agilent Technologies and Dermtech have filed layoff plans in 2024 as well, and Cue Health cut hundreds of jobs on its way to shutting down the company.
Dexcom’s McIntosh said that commercial manufacturing facilities in San Diego will be transformed to support product process development, writing that there will be a “reduction in our manufacturing workforce in San Diego, as we transition to our new focus over the coming years.”
McIntosh did not comment on a question as to how much money Dexcom expects to save from the job cuts. The company had approximately 9,600 global employees as of Dec. 31, according to a federal filing.
Dexcom’s layoffs will come after its revenue grew 24% year over year to $921 million in the first quarter. In February, the diabetes tech firm reported full-year revenue of $3.62 billion for 2023, representing year-over-year growth of 24%.
In March, Dexcom received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the first over-the-counter glucose monitor. Dexcom and Abbott, which received a similar clearance in June, will bring their respective products to the U.S. market this year, potentially opening up tens of millions of new users for the companies.
Dexcom will report its second-quarter financial results on July 25.
The company previously laid off 178 people in 2021, according to a California WARN report.
