NEW YORK – Cue Health is implementing a new cost reduction plan that will include laying off 326 employees, according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
The layoffs constitute a reduction of about 30 percent of the firm's global workforce and are expected to occur in late June, it said. The San Diego-based company also expects to record an aggregate restructuring charge related to termination benefits between $5.0 million and $7.0 million, with the majority of those charges resulting in cash expenditures.
The plan is intended to reduce Cue's cost structure and improve its operational efficiency, the firm said. In a letter to employees, Cue CEO Ayub Khattak said that the company is in an "in-between period" between the launch of its Cue COVID-19 test and the rollout of the firm's expanded test menu and integrated care platform.
The new cost reduction plan comes after Cue announced it would be laying off 388 employees in January, reducing its workforce by approximately 26 percent. Last June, the company laid off 170 people due to macroeconomic challenges and the lack of funding for COVID-19 testing from the US government.
The firm went public in 2021 via a $200 million initial public offering that opened at $16.76 per share. As of Tuesday afternoon, shares were trading at $.72 per share, down nearly 6 percent on the Nasdaq.