When Watson Laboratories bought out Schein Pharmaceuticals in 2000, it acquired its 110,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Carmel and continued to utilize the 22-acre site for the manufacture of its own array of generic pharmaceuticals.
Watson announced it would be shuttering its New York facilities back in February 2008. There were 500 people employed at the Stoneleigh Avenue site at the time of the announcement.
Since then, it has been slowly trimming staff, announcing the newest round of 33 layoffs on July 7. There are 100 employees remaining and the Putnam County plant is expected to close entirely by early 2011.
The company, with 6,000 employees worldwide and an anticipated $3.5 billion in global revenues in 2010, will continue its manufacturing operations in Florida and California where its corporate headquarters is located, said Charlie Mayr, senior vice president for corporate affairs for Watson”™s offices in Morristown, N.J.
“We tried to give employees as much warning as possible,” Mayr said. “We offer a number of benefits, including retention bonuses, career transition and outplacement services. If we have openings in our other manufacturing facilities, we do offer them the opportunity to transfer.”
Watson partners with IBM on research and development at locations in Yorktown Heights and Hawthorne.
