Bio Giant Amgen Taps Jones Lang LaSalle for $500 Million Facilities-Management Contract

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Like virtually every other company in the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry, Amgen Incorporated (NASDAQ:AMGN) (Thousand Oaks, California) is looking for ways to slash costs. The company's most recent move to economize was the decision to contract out the facilities-management portion of its operations. As a result, Amgen has entered into a $500 million, five-year contract with Jones Lang LaSalle Americas (Chicago, Illinois).

Click on the image at right for a list of Amgen's North American sites.

The contract, which is renewable on an annual basis following the initial five-year term, covers facilities services at each of Amgen's 11 North American sites (Source: Industrial Info Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database). That contract includes services such as building and facilities maintenance, food services, waste disposal and recycling, inventory management of related supplies, utilities systems maintenance and other projects.

Approximately 150 jobs are expected to be lost as a result of the outsourcing, although each of the targeted employees will have the opportunity to apply with Jones Lang. In addition to facilities-service jobs, there will be an unknown number of positions lost within Amgen's engineering staff. The majority of affected jobs will be at the company's plant at its headquarters in Thousand Oaks. Layoffs will begin later this spring, and a generous severance package will be offered to those unable to obtain positions with Jones Lang.

The announcement served as a bad case of deja vu for Thousand Oaks in particular. Just last year the company declared that beginning in January 2009, IBM would assume its information systems services at the site, resulting in the loss of just more than 60 jobs.

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