Medical Device Companies: Who's Hiring?

The economic recovery has been slow going in the U.S. as the housing market and persistently high unemployment have proven particularly stubborn. That's why we were surprised, after looking at the employment numbers in our MassDevice Big 100 database, to find that only 3 of the largest 15 med-tech makers wound up cutting their global workforces last year. Of the 5 largest businesses on our list, all pure-play medical device companies, only Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) cut jobs. The others – Essilor International (EPA:EI), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Stryker (NYSE:SYK) and St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) – all added to their employment rolls, with French prescription and contact lens maker Essilor leading the charge with a whopping 40% addition.