Vaccine giant Pfizer to lay off 285 workers at Rockland campus. What to know
Pfizer plans to lay off 285 workers at its Pearl River campus in New York as the pharmaceutical giant struggles financially, in part, due to declining demand for its COVID-19 vaccines and products, state records show.
The Pfizer job cuts will begin Feb. 12 and continue through late March, the company noted in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining, or WARN, notice posted Dec. 22 on the state Department of Labor website. The layoffs will slash about 28% of the 1,012 total workforce at the Pfizer facility in Rockland County.
Pfizer cited "economic" conditions as the reason for the layoffs. In a statement Wednesday, the company described the job cuts in New York as part of its "enterprise-wide cost realignment program." It noted U.S. workers who lose jobs will be offered a separation package, as well as the "opportunity to post for internal Pfizer roles."
Why Pfizer is laying off workers in New York
Pfizer stock reached historic peaks during the pandemic as demand initially exploded for its COVID-19 vaccines, which it delivered in late 2020 with partner company BioNTech. Pfizer's stock price peaked in December 2021 amid promising results for its anti-viral COVID-19 pill, called Paxlovid.
But since that highpoint, Pfizer's stock price has plummeted about 50%, with its steepest decline unfolding in 2023 as the world ended the pandemic emergency.
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Most recently, the rollout of updated COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna this past fall stumbled amid insurance coverage hiccups, supply chain issues and limited demand for the shot.
What Pfizer says about NY layoffs
In a statement to USA TODAY Network, Pfizer noted its cost adjustments will result in "some job loss across a number of our locations" across the globe on a rolling basis.
"All job-related decisions have and will be made with transparency, compassion, and respect, and in compliance with applicable laws," Pfizer added. The company did not respond to questions about which types of jobs will be eliminated at the Pearl River site in New York.
Which industries are cutting jobs?
The first nine months of the year saw over 13 million layoffs and discharges across the U.S., according to seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's up slightly from the same period in 2022 and 2021 but still below the 2019 pre-pandemic rate of 16 million, USA TODAY Network reported this month.
Few industries have been spared from job cuts, with the tech industry and media reporting hundreds of thousands of layoffs this year. Health care, biotech and financial firms also faced deep job cuts.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Pfizer to lay off 285 workers at Rockland County NY campus
