MAINE, USA — EDITORS NOTE: The video story above is our reporting from August 2020 when Abbott Labs added 1,000 jobs.
As demand for COVID-19 testing continues to drop across the country, two medical companies with facilities in Maine are laying off employees.
NEWS CENTER Maine has confirmed Abbott Labs will be laying off 310 staff members from its Westbrook facility, according to the Maine Department of Labor. The Maine DOL told NEWS CENTER Maine in an email that it received a WARN notice from Abbott Labs on July 7, 2021.
The global health care company, which has manufacturing facilities in Westbrook and Scarborough, was granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for their state-of-the-art rapid COVID-19 testing device in March 2020.
In response to the demand for the devices, the company hired hundreds of temporary and permanent workers last summer. A year later, that testing demand has dropped as the world continues to make progress on vaccinations.
Abbott Labs Divisional Vice President Scott Stoffel told NEWS CENTER Maine they expect the rapid decline in COVID testing to continue. "Because of this, we are reducing our workforce that produces rapid tests in Westbrook and Scarborough," he said. "These sites will continue to play an important role in manufacturing tests for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases around the world. We’re grateful for the contributions our workers in Maine made to our country during the pandemic."
"COVID-19 testing demand has been impacted by several factors including significant reductions in cases in the US and other major developed countries, accelerating the rollout of vaccines globally, and recent US health authority guidance on testing for fully vaccinated individuals," Stoffel said. "Impacted employees will be offered severance and outplacement services and will have consideration for open positions within the company."
Stoffel also said Abbott Labs is not currently providing details on the number of people impacted.
Westbrook Mayor Michael Foley released this statement to NEWS CENTER Maine: "Our thoughts and prayers are with affected employees as they work to find new employment. Abbott Labs has been a great partner in the fight against COVID-19 and their mission to help us reach where we are has been achieved. We look forward to them continuing to be a great community partner here in Westbrook as they transition their business back to many of the other medical testing they provide."
Abbott gained national attention in April 2020 when now-former President Donald Trump praised their work producing the tests. The federal government made an initial purchase $150 million purchase in early April 2020.
Another leader in COVID testing supplies with Maine ties, Puritan Medical Products, is also experiening a drop in demand. A representative for Puritan, one of North America’s largest manufacturers of COVID-19 testing swabs, said 180 employees who work at Puritan's Pittsfield facility will be furloughed for an additional three weeks. The company had furloughed these employees in June, and now expect work to resume on Aug. 2.
A Puritan spokesperson said their swab production has outpaced the unexpected drop in demand for their foam COVID testing swabs.
"Everything about this last year was unprecedented and unpredictable, including the current furlough. Each employee who has worked at Puritan over the past year is a hero," a Puritan spokesperson said.
Purtian, which employs more than 1,400 workers in Guilford and Pittsfield, had received multiple grants from the federal government to ramp up production of COVID testing swabs. For a time during the pandemic, it was producing up to 100 million swabs a month. Trump visited Puritan's Guilford facility in June 2020.
In January, Puritan was named Inc. Magazine’s 2020 Company of the Year.