NEW YORK – Illumina said on Monday after the close of the market that it has begun the process of laying off approximately 5 percent of its global workforce, or about 500 people.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the San Diego-based sequencing firm said it is "proactively realigning core Illumina operating expenses to reflect the current macroeconomic environment."
"Over the past several months, the macroeconomic environment has continued to get more challenging, impacting our customers and our business, and we expect these conditions to continue into 2023," Illumina Global Head of Public Relations David McAlpine said in an email.
"While we are confident in Illumina's long-term growth trajectory, we need to reduce the growth rate of our spend as we navigate these challenges," he said, adding that employees in the Americas whose jobs were eliminated were notified today and that their last day with the company will be Jan. 13, 2023.
The firm has not yet filed any layoff notices with the state of California and declined to specify which geographies or company segments would be most impacted. McAlpine said the firm had approximately 10,000 employees prior to the layoffs.
The move comes amid a rash of layoffs in the US technology sector, with employees at life sciences tools and diagnostics companies unspared. In recent months, Invitae, NanoString Technologies, 10x Genomics, Sema4, Quanterix, PerkinElmer, Siemens Healthineers, and others have all laid off workers.
Earlier this month, Illumina reported $1.11 billion in core Illumina revenues for Q3, $435 million in core Illumina operating profits, and adjusted EPS of $.34. However, the firm took a $3.91 billion write-off related to Grail, resulting in a net loss of $3.82 billion and lowered its full-year 2022 consolidated revenue and EPS guidance.
The company told the SEC that it expects to take a restructuring charge, which will also include expenses associated with optimization of its facilities, in the fourth quarter of 2022.