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February 6, 2006
J&J Shakes Things Up
Posted by Derek
Well, as one of my readers noted in a comment on Friday, Johnson and Johnson seems to be doing a bit of restructuring in their drug discovery departments. I haven't seen a press release on this from the company yet, and I don't know if they're required to put one out, but it's newsworthy to people like me. Word starting going around at other companies during that working day, and more details have come out since then.
It appears that they're going to shrink their big Raritan, NJ site, at least as far as research is concerned, and consolidate things more in Spring House, PA. If my sources are correct, though, there are several hundred positions that are going to disappear in the process. I should emphasize that I don't have all the details, but that's what it's sounding like.
This is a bit unnerving, because J&J wasn't on anyone's list of companies that were having trouble. It's true that they don't have any of the huge multibillion-dollar drugs that everyone hears about, but they've always seemed like a pretty solid organization. Their presence in the medical-devices market gives them a useful non-pharma revenue stream, although the recent Guidant wrangling shows that that's not exactly a quiet, restful business, either.
Anyone with more information is welcome to add it in the comments section to this post. I hope that the folks affected will be able to land on their feet.
Comments (9)
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1. LNT on February 7, 2006 9:20 AM writes...
I have a friend at J&J who just got notified on Friday that he was being laid off. He said that they are closing discovery research at Raritan. I heard from him and from another friend at J&J that things at J&J aren't quite as "hunky-dory" as they appear from the outside. The percentange of J&J profits that come from pharmaceuticals is fairly small, isn't it? I wonder if in the long-term J&J will get out of pharmaceuticals alltogether and focus on other parts of thier buisness.
Permalink to Comment2. Oldchemist on February 7, 2006 10:41 AM writes...
What I've heard mostly agrees with LNT's post, although I've heard that some transfers to Spring House are going to be possible. Even at that, the positions lost seem to be in the 100 - 150 range. I've already received a blizzard of resumes. Is anyone "safe" these days?
Permalink to Comment3. EDCi on February 7, 2006 10:42 AM writes...
What happens to most of the people laid off when the companies in this industry restructure? Do they get reassigned to different departments/locations or do they get hired by the other companies in the same business?
Permalink to Comment4. bob on February 7, 2006 11:38 AM writes...
A collegue of mine's spouse is one of the victims.
Permalink to CommentBoth spring house and raritan are dumping oncology and GI research (so i am told).
few, if any, transfers.
severence is pay period driven, not lump sum.
and i hear a real bear of a "non-compete" severence contract.
5. lynx on February 7, 2006 11:43 AM writes...
Here's the only news item I've seen. http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/NEWS/602040305.
Permalink to CommentMy sources agree with your sources, Derek, and those above. >100 positions lost; some will be offered or allowed to bid on jobs. It's pretty disturbing - and oddly underreported.
6. tango on February 7, 2006 1:59 PM writes...
This is surprising. I agree, J&J certainly wasn't on my radar of big companies in trouble. Any ideas why J&J have had to take this unfortunate step?
Permalink to Comment7. Dave H on February 7, 2006 3:34 PM writes...
J&J / Janssen transdermal fentanyl went generic in 2005. This may have reduced annual revenue by upto one billion dollars.
Permalink to Comment8. heeler on February 7, 2006 6:45 PM writes...
I was looking for info on the new in yahoo finance and saw this ironic report from morningstar -http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/060206/155720.html?.v=1
It states that J&J gets 50% of its profit from drug sales and has a strong pipeline (which is always subjective).
Good luck to the folks from J&J and to the rest of us in this business. Not only is the job market tough these days, but I never imagined when I went to grad school 20 years ago that my profession would be right up there with used car salesmen in the public's eye.
Permalink to Comment9. tarak on February 7, 2006 8:49 PM writes...
J&J Raritan:
Permalink to Comment280 positions gone
Severance pay-2 weeks for each year of service.
Job assistance-passing around positions dated June 2005.
Last day is Feb 17.