Replies to post #124476 on Biotech Values

[iwfal]

Genzyme didn't layoff manufacture staff, rather they hired more manufacture staff to address the manufacture issues. So, your Genzyme example is off target

No it isn't "off target" - it is off Dew's target, which, as I have stated repeatedly I think is off base. A target that is narrowed and narrowed, even post hoc in this case, until the target is small enough that no possible examples can be found. (This appears to be a common strategy of debate on this board - but it is one that damages debate and produces false answers.)

The real target should IMO be - provide examples of companies that:

a) Layoff skilled/highly trained workers in a

b) product line with a known-to-be-transient sales hiccup

If we want a productive debate then for someone who wants to narrow the target it is incumbent upon them to justify that the narrowing. E.g.

1) is there is some reason that biotech manufacturing workers are somehow an extra special kind of "highly trained" compared to, say, silicon foundry workers who get laid off every chip recession? (I seriously doubt it unless it is purely cultural - e.g. chip companies are used to hire/fire, biotech isn't)

2) is there some reason that one kind of known-to-be-transient sales glitch is different than another? (Again, I seriously doubt it.)

[DewDiligence]

DNDN—I just heard a Genzyme ad on sports radio of all places seeking applicants for manufacturing jobs. More evidence that these positions are not easy to fill—even when the unemployment rate is sky high. No sane company would axe such positions to fix a “reimbursement” problem.