Genentech has executed another round of layoffs, eliminating 87 positions at its headquarters in South San Francisco.
The dismissals, which were filed last week and are effective Sept. 15, were revealed in a California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) report and "impacted multiple departments," a company spokesperson said via email. The WARN Act requires employers to provide a 60-day notice on layoffs impacting 50 workers or more.
It's at least the fourth wave of job cuts from Genentech in the last 15 months, impacting more than 700 positions at the Roche subsidiary so far. The dismissals come after the company cut 143 jobs in May, according to another WARN report.
"The success and sustained growth of our business hinges on our ability to proactively identify innovation opportunities early and adapt to a changing external environment," Roche said in a July 23 statement to Fierce. "This requires us to allocate and, at times, shift resources judiciously to enhance operational efficiency. We consistently evaluate all facets of our operations to ensure we remain well-positioned to meet patients’ evolving needs today while continuing to deliver innovative new medicines in the future."
The spokesperson said that 2,000 positions are open at Roche and that the company anticipates its workforce will “remain stable throughout 2025," while "changes may occur in certain departments."
The layoffs also follow a 3% workforce reduction affecting 436 Genentech employees in April of last year, with the company explaining that it was a strategic move designed to “place greater focus on the most-promising molecules in our portfolio.”
Then, in August of last year, Genentech revealed a major restructuring initiative that included the closure of the company’s cancer immunology research department. Later that month, the company announced even more layoffs, this time impacting 93 employees in South San Francisco.
In April, Roche let go of 108 workers at its molecular systems division in Santa Clara, California. A few weeks later, the Swiss pharma announced a $50 billion investment into its U.S. operations, including an Indianapolis diagnostics campus, a manufacturing plant in North Carolina and three R&D sites.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:50 a.m. ET to include comment from Roche and Genentech.