November 20, 2014
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Editor
Biotech giant Bausch & Lomb brought some good news to Ireland this week, announcing Wednesday that it will create 50 new jobs over the next 18 months as part of a €41 million revamping of its Waterford facility.
The eye care company had previously announced 200 job cuts earlier this year, a move which was supported by workers after they voted in June to reduce their pay by 15 percent in order to keep the plant open. Bausch & Lomb is the largest private sector employer in Southeast Ireland, according to the Irish Times.
The company said that its new investment was proof that it was committed to the facility’s future.
“(The) Waterford site will continue to play a very important role in our strategy to rebuild Bausch and Lomb as one of the leading contact lens producers,” J Michael Pearson, chairman and chief executive of Bausch & Lomb’s parent, Valeant Pharmaceuticals . “The Waterford facility is a first class manufacturing site for contact lens manufacturing and distribution and with the new contact lens manufacturing lines, the added capacity will support both current and future demand.
The new Ireland Development Agency-supported investment overhaul the facility’s manufacturing for contact lenses, as well as revamp its high-speed packaging equipment and an efficient energy generation system.
“The commitment to Bausch & Lomb’s operations here is welcome and will enable us to take advantage of the opportunities that are emerging in the contact lens and vision care sector in the coming years,” said Damian Finn, general manager at the facility. “Our employees have implemented a substantial program of change over the last six months and we are now in a position to gain from the resulting increased competitiveness. I believe that we now have a more sustainable operation and I am looking forward to the coming years as a time of great opportunity and significant growth.”
