Congrats on a great quarter — now, you're fired

Congrats on a great quarter — now, you're fired: "Last week Amgen, one of the USA's biggest biotechnology companies, reported a sensational quarter.

Earnings per share leaped 25% and revenue jumped 11% from the second quarter of 2013.

Amgen's chief executive officer Robert Bradway called it "robust."

But Amgen also announced it would lay off up to 2,900 workers -- from 12% to 15% of its workforce -- and shutter facilities in Colorado and Washington State.

The company, which will take at least a $775 million charge against 2014-2015 earnings to cover restructuring costs, will offer voluntary severance packages and maybe jobs for some laid-off employees in expanded research facilities in South San Francisco and Cambridge, Mass.

Wall Street drove Amgen's stock up 5% to an all-time high above $130. "Investors are particularly excited about the restructuring plan . . . that could save $700 million per year," Barron's wrote.

Big layoffs and restructurings aren't new, of course. This year, corporate stalwarts like IBM, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have laid off thousands."



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