3M (NYSE:MMM) laid off another 1,700 workers during its second-quarter — with many of the jobs related to the company’s divested drug delivery business.
The layoff — announced as part of an SEC filing on July 28 — comes after the Maplewood, Minn.–based manufacturing conglomerate said early this year that it would lay off 1,500 workers — though a company spokesperson tells MassDevice that the number is now closer to 1,100 after some natural attrition.
3M announced in late 2019 that it would sell the drug delivery business to Altaris Capital Partners — completing the $617 million deal in May. Roughly 1,300 of the jobs in the second-quarter layoff round came amid restructuring of corporate functional costs and manufacturing footprint now that the deal is complete.
The company cut another 400 jobs to rein in expenses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
3M had 96,000 employees globally at the end of 2019, according to its most recent annual report.
The company has been a major producer of personal protective equipment during the pandemic, especially the highly sought-after N95 respirator mask. But 3M makes far more than just PPE, which means the overall business has faced pandemic-related challenges.
3M missed Wall Street projections as it posted profits of $1.3 billion, or $2.22 per share, on sales of $7.2 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2020, for a 14.5% bottom-line gain on a sales decline of -12.2%.