Hundreds of Amgen workers need new jobs
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

About 675 Amgen employees in Thousand Oaks learned last week they would no longer be working for the biotechnology company headquartered in the city.

According to Amgen spokesperson David Polk, those affected by the layoffs were offered a severance package designed to help them focus on transitioning to new employment as soon as possible. The package includes cash, company-paid continuation of health insurance through the end of next year and career transition services.

The minimum amount of cash severance given during this round of layoffs was 24 weeks of pay, he said.

Amgen has also hired a consulting firm to provide workshops to help those leaving Amgen find new jobs. Polk noted that a number of companies have expressed interest in interviewing some of those who've been let go. Job fairs, exclusively for those leaving Amgen, are being planned, he said.

Polk would not say how many of the approximately 700 employees who took the Voluntary Transition Plan offered in August were from the Thousand Oaks area. Some close to Amgen have speculated that a majority of the VTP staff were from the Conejo Valley.

Eligibility for the buyout was determined by a formula that included an employee's age and years with the company. Those who refused the VTP took a chance of being let go in a subsequent layoff with less cash and benefits, like last week's.

Another round of layoffs will come before the holidays and will include a further cut in severance cash and benefits, a source near Amgen said.

In August it was announced that downsizing measures were to be completed by 2008 and were expected to save the company about $1 billion. When the first announcement was made, Amgen said it needed to reduce staff by 12 to 14 percent, or 2,200 to 2,600 workers companywide, along with other cutbacks.

After Amgen totaled the number of employees who accepted the buyout and the number of jobs reduced by a partial hiring freeze and attrition, it announced there would be 1,500 layoffs companywide. The 675 let go in Thousand Oaks last week represented 45 percent of those layoffs.

Over the summer CEO Kevin Sharer explained that one reason for the cutbacks were revenue losses due to approval changes from the FDA that affected how the anemia drugs Epogen and Aranesp are to be labeled. Sharer emphasized the company would continue to support research efforts directed at development of new medicines for grievously ill patients.