Illumina is cutting 5% of its workforce

Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN) announced that it commenced a headcount reduction totaling approximately 5% of its global workforce.

The company said yesterday that it is proactively realigning its core operating expenses in response to the current macroeconomic environment. It seeks to maintain its focus on its innovation roadmap and sustainable long-term growth, according to an SEC filing.

Earlier this month, Illumina reported its third-quarter 2022 financial results. That report included mentions of “challenging macroeconomic dynamics that we expect will continue into 2023.”

Illumina expects to incur a restructuring charge that also includes expenses associated with the optimization of its facilities. It plans to exclude this charge, which takes place in the fourth quarter of 2022, from non-GAAP financial metrics.

As of its Jan. 2, 2022, annual report, Illumina’s headcount totaled approximately 9,100 full-time employees. It also declared 50 part-time employees and 1,600 temporary employees.

Illumina made no mention of whether the workforce reduction impacts its Grail subsidiary or solely affects Illumina. As of that Jan. 2, 2022, report, Grail had 700 full-time employees and 300 temporary employees.

The company’s much-scrutinized acquisition of Grail, a cancer detection technology developer, has met a series of roadblocks along the way. In September 2020, the company agreed to acquire Grail, a startup that it initially spun out in 2016. Illumina completed the acquisition in August 2021. However, it agreed to hold Grail as a separate company as the European Commission conducted a regulatory review. Illumina argued Grail has no business in Europe. The company said the review is out of the European Commission’s jurisdiction.

Earlier this year, a ruling in the U.S. favored the acquisition. An administrative law judge in the U.S. rejected the Federal Trade Commission’s argument that the $8 billion acquisition of Grail is anti-competitive. However, the European Commission sought to block the acquisition. Illumina is appealing the decision.