Smith+Nephew announces US layoffs after listing campus for sale

Smith+Nephew (NYSE:SNN) is eliminating  jobs in Tennessee, the device developer said in response to an inquiry from MassDevice today.

“Smith+Nephew is working to transform to a more efficient, effective and agile business,” a spokesperson said by email. “As we make improvements to our business efficiency in Memphis we have identified some activities that are no longer required to be delivered as they are today.”

“Unfortunately, this has meant that we are making around 150 roles redundant,” she continued. “The impacted colleagues are being treated with dignity and respect, in line with our values.”

The company did not say when the layoffs would take effect, but a senior product development engineer employee said on LinkedIn that he was notified this week that his group’s last day is Dec. 20.

Watford, England-based Smith+Nephew is the world’s 24th-largest medical device company (according to Medical Design & Outsourcing‘s 2024 Medtech Big 100 ranking by revenue) and the fifth-largest orthopedic device company.

Last month, three major investors asked Smith+Nephew to explore  spinning off its struggling orthopedics division.

Smith+Nephew makes knee and hip joint replacements in Memphis, plus plating systems and trauma products, Manufacturing Training Coordinator Niki Barnes said in an October television advertisement promoting the company’s manufacturing jobs.

In September, the device developer put its 300,000-square-foot office campus outside Memphis up for sale. Real estate firm JLL has the listing and said it was helping Smith+Nephew with “its search for a new, long-term relocation in the Memphis area.”

That campus at 7135 Goodlett Farms Parkway in Cordova is still listed as available for purchase.

The 56-acre campus includes 269,000 square feet of office space, a 142-seat conference center, a 26,000-square-foot Tier IV data center and a 5,000-square-foot warehouse.

The property has streams and walking paths, plus 31 developable acres.

And in May, 43% of voting Smith+Nephew shareholders opposed a proposed 30% raise for CEO Deepak Nath, who received $4.7 million in 2023 and nearly $6 million when he became the company’s leader in 2022.

Despite that vote, the Smith+Nephew Board proceeded with the CEO pay increase, but said the company would “continue to engage with shareholders and proxies on these and other remuneration matters in the future and will also address feedback and areas of interest raised by shareholders during the full consultation process through narrative disclosures in the 2024 Annual Report.”