PAREXEL International Stays Mum as 200 Ex-GlaxoSmithKline Workers are Reportedly Being Laid Off Today
July 30, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Reportedly, almost 200 former GlaxoSmithKline employees who were transferred earlier this year to Parexel are being laid off today. The company has declined to comment directly on the matter.
In December 2014, Boston, Mass.-based Parexel announced it was hiring 450 former GSK employees. Further, it indended to build a dedicated business unit in the U.S. as part of a strategic agreement with GSK and clinical research organization (CRO) PPD .
In June, Parexel indicated it was cutting 850 jobs, but didn’t provide specifics. “In general, we do not discuss any employee-related matters to ensure the privacy for our employees and confidentiality for our clients,” said Diana Martin, vice president of corporate communications for Parexel in a statement to WRALTechWire.
Although the company has declined to comment, a former Parexel/GSK worker who left the company but is in contact with former co-workers at Parexel, reported that several hundred people were having five-minute one-on-one meetings today regarding layoffs.
In a June meeting with investors, Josef von Rickenbach, company chair and chief executive officer, announced the layoff plan, calling it a “Margin Acceleration Program.”
“Our priorities for the new year include solid revenue growth, as well as improved operating profitability and double-digit growth in earnings per share,” said Rickenbach. “In conjunction with our new guidance we are also raising our long-term adjusted operating margin target from 12 percent to 14 percent of service revenue to 13 percent to 15 percent of service revenue. We are accelerating a number of our ongoing improvement plans, and as a result of these efforts, plan to restructure certain activities.”
Just earlier this week the company indicated it was creating 130 jobs in Dublin, Ireland over the next 18 months. Parexel currently employs 70 people in Dublin.
“Europe is important to our growth and business strategy, and Ireland specifically is a key country from which we can better serve our customers and continue our growth,” said Douglas Batt, senior vice president and general counsel for Parexel to The Irish Times. “This office will be a global decision-making hub for our company. Senior leaders based here will be making strategic decisions for the Company worldwide, and this office will play a critical role in continuing to bring Parexel’s global brand to the world.”
Parexel operates in 80 locations in 51 countries and employs about 17,440 people.
In October 2014, Parexel reported a soft quarter at its earnings call and analysts who studied the company’s book-to-bill ratio, a way of determining a CRO’s partnership progress, found it disappointing.
at the October news, dropping from $64.01 on Oct. 28, 2014 to $53.15 on Oct. 30. But that was seemingly a blip on the radar as shares started a fairly steady rise, spiking on June 23, 2015 to $72.57, dropping to $63.66 on July 8. Shares are currently trading for $68.86.