Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will shut down its manufacturing facility at Ermington, in Sydney’s north-west, in 2020.
GSK said the decision to close down the plant came after a comprehensive review of the business, which found that significant ongoing investment would be required over the longer term to maintain the competitiveness of the manufacturing site.
Michael Tyler, VP – Asia Middle East and Africa Supply Chain said GSK thoroughly evaluated a number of alternative options for the Ermington site before reaching a final decision.
“We have a loyal and committed workforce in Ermington who have a long history of manufacturing high quality over-the-counter healthcare products for Australian consumers,” Mr Tyler added.
“We have thoroughly evaluated a number of options before taking the decision to close the site, but unfortunately significant ongoing investment would be needed to maintain our Ermington manufacturing facility, making it uncompetitive to keep manufacturing in Ermington in the future.”
The move will affect 223 jobs in Ermington, with GSK committing to provide all manufacturing employees’ benefits, in line with current agreements.
“We know this announcement is very difficult, especially for our employees. I started my GSK career in Ermington and I have worked alongside many of our employees at the site. Providing support to those in our team whose roles will be affected is a priority during this four-year transition period,” Mr Tyler said.
“As always, we will treat employees fairly and do everything we can to support our employees through this period of change. Where redeployment is not an option, we will provide outplacement support to help our employees find work outside of GSK and will provide redundancy packages when the time comes for our employees to leave the business.”
GSK said the closure will be carried out in phases, with production to be gradually transferred to a combination of other GSK manufacturing sites and third-party contract manufacturers.
According to the company, the closure will not affect the rest of the business in the country.
“The decision to close our Ermington manufacturing site does not affect other parts of the GSK business in Australia,” the company said in a press release.
“Our manufacturing site in Boronia, Victoria, where respiratory products are manufactured, is not affected by this decision.”
