Swiss pharma giant Novartis confirmed up to 320 roles will be cut at its Cork campus

The company is closing one of its Ringaskiddy buildings.

By Laura Roddy Reporter, Fora

SWISS PHARMA GIANT Novartis has confirmed that it will cut up to 320 jobs at its Cork campus as part of a global shake-up of its manufacturing facilities.

The company officially announced that it intends to close one of its production buildings at Ringaskiddy. It will also relocate a number of global services roles at the facility to centralised operations centres in Europe and Asia by the end of 2021.

The Cork campus will continue to manufacture medicines for hypertension and heart failure, while global business services will also continue to operate too.

Between its Cork and Dublin campuses, the company employs 1,200 in Ireland with the Ringaskiddy campus home to Novartis’s active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing facility and its global business services organisation.

The decision was made after an evaluation of its global manufacturing network and could impact up to 320 employees.

The closure of one of its facilities and relocation of services is subject to an employee consultation process. 

The managing director of Novartis Ringaskiddy, Shane Relihan, said that today was a “difficult day for everyone associated” with the facility.

“With a proud reputation of making medicines for over 25 years, it is important to say that this decision is not a reflection of the performance of our dedicated colleagues who have worked hard to supply our customers and patients,” he said. 

He said the company would work closely with employees and representative groups to support them during the period ahead and work with industry partners in Cork to identify future employment opportunities in the area.

The announcement comes after US firm Molex said it will shut its Shannon, Co Clare facility, impacting up to 500 jobs, yesterday. 

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