Medical device firms have cut more than 14,000 jobs in the past 18 months

Medical device companies have been steadily cutting jobs for the past 18 months, eliminating thousands of positions as firms look to lower costs, close facilities or restructure businesses.

More than 14,000 employees in the device industry have been laid off since the start of 2023 or will lose their jobs in the coming months, according to state regulatory notices analyzed by MedTech Dive.

The cuts are not limited to specific industries or larger companies with thousands of employees — medical technology firms of every size in numerous sectors have filed these notices, known as WARN reports for short.

MedTech Dive analyzed industry WARN filings in state databases from Jan. 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The project has shown that medical device companies have been consistently shedding positions, both while the industry was grappling with macroeconomic pressures and lingering COVID-19 effects and as firms have reported a return to growth.

The diagnostics industry has taken the largest hit, representing more than 5,000 layoffs over the period analyzed, as testing demand in the sector has plummeted from its COVID-19 peaks. Cue Health accounted for more than 1,200 job cuts on its own, according to the data. In May, the company ultimately announced it would shut down.

Meanwhile, some of the medical device industry’s biggest players have cut positions, including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Abbott and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The number of planned layoffs per quarter has fallen after peaking in the second quarter of 2023 at more than 4,000 cuts. Still, the number of affected positions in WARN filings has exceeded 1,800 in each of the past three quarters.

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