NO LOVE AT TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS (08/22/22)

Am I Next? 7,000 jobs cut at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

AUGUST 22, 2022 — 305 LAYOFFS IN IRVINE, CALIFORNIA

Teva Parenteral Medicines is laying off 305 employees at its sterile injectables plant in Irvine, California.

The plant’s future appears to be in jeopardy as it faces regulatory issues.

OCTOBER 15, 2019 — TEVA PLANS TO SHUTTER FOREST, VIRGINIA FACILITY

In a notice to the State of Virginia, the company has announced that they are planning to lay off 220 employees commencing November 22, 2019, and be completed by the end of the year. The company restated its plans to eventually sell or close the facility by 2020.

According to the company’s statement, this action is part of the company’s “comprehensive restructuring and consolidation plan that is crucial to restoring Teva’s financial security and stability.”

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The largest generic drug maker in the world, Teva Pharmaceuticals has announced that they will be cutting 7,000 jobs worldwide, shutting 15 plants, and removing operations from 45 countries in 2017-18. Declining prices of generics, increased competition, mounting debt from acquisitions, loss of patent protection on a key drug, and a series of ill-timed events add to Wall Street’s demand to perform or be revalued have led Teva to reevaluate its global operations. Teva is continuing their search for a new CEO after the resignation of former CEO Erez Vigodman in February 2017. 

I cannot help but wonder if this restructuring has been brought on by structural problems or because Wall Street pundits have indicated their lack of confidence in Teva’s future performance. Especially since there are few large acquisition targets that would make a difference in Teva’s bottom line.

Among the many setbacks was the settlement of criminal and civil charges that Teva bribed drug purchasing officials in Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, and elsewhere to promote its drugs. This resulted in substantial legal costs and a $238 million penalty to the United States Department of Justice to settle allegations of violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and another $236 million in profits (plus interests) to end a civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Of course, the company does not actually pay these fines – they are paid by the shareholders, the customers, and the company’s employees. And, it should be noted that bribery in many countries is a regular business practice that is simply another cost of doing business with corrupt politicians and others in positions of authority. 

Again we see good people being laid off through no fault of their own.   

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

WILL YOUR JOB BE LOST IN THE POLITICAL SWAMP?

Am I Next? Job Loss, Politics, Political Swamp

It doesn't matter which political party you belong to or abstain from participating in the political process. The sad truth is that your job relies just as much on federal regulations as it does a vibrant marketplace, healthy economy, healthy industry, and healthy company.

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the burden of 2016 federal regulations on the American public was approximately $1.9 TRILLION or nearly $15,000 per household.
The 2017 edition of "Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State" reveals that in 2016:

  • 214 laws were enacted by Congress during the calendar year, while 3,853 rules were issued by agencies. That means, 18 rules were issued for every law enacted last year.
  • Some 60 federal departments, agencies, and commissions have 3,318 regulations in development at various stages in the pipeline.
  • The five most active rulemaking entities–the Departments of the Treasury, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency–account for 1,428 rules, or 43 percent of all federal regulations being considered.
  • The 2016 Federal Register contains 95,894 pages, the highest level in its history and 19 percent higher than the previous year’s 80,260 pages.
  • Rules appear to be increasing as former President Obama issued 685 major rules during his 8-year term, compared with former President George W. Bush’s 505 major rules during his 8-year term. President Trump has announced he will use executive orders to effect a roll-back in rules and rule-making.

Some of President Trump’s initiatives during his first 100 days include:

  • Presidential Memorandum. Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing, January 24, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13766. Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects, January 24, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13771. Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, January 30, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13772. Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System, February 3, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13777. Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda, February 24, 2017
  • Presidential Executive Order 13789. Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory Burdens, April 21, 2017

While we all can’t be tax and legislative analysts, we can scan the trade papers for notices of impending legislation and try to imagine how they might impact your industry, company, and job.

IS THERE A MANUAL FOR DEVICES CONTAINING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

Am I Next? Future of Work. Artificial Intelligence.

I have both read and written a fair number of manuals for the setup, use, maintenance, and troubleshooting of electronic devices. And unfortunately, the largest percentage of calls coming into our help desk could have been answered with a cursory glance at the manual. 

What I have learned is that there is a mathematical relationship between the thickness of the manual, even though it may contain multiple languages and pages of official government-approved disclaimers, and an individual’s propensity to toss the manual aside -- ostensibly to be read later -- after first opening the box.

And, for years I used a personalized license plate to spark discussion among my colleagues about “1sr Reading Your *** Manual.” I got laughs – but little compliance. 

Such is life. 

Therefore, designers spend an inordinate amount of time idiot-proofing the graphical user interface (screen or control panel to ordinary people) to force people to follow some semblance of a sequence and to trap the majority of errors. Along with the original design comes on-screen prompts, help keys, and referrals to particular problems through the use of error codes. My favorite being the one we used on the help desk to indicate especially problematical users. One-Dee-Ten-Tee. Or as it was coded into the system, 1D10T. 

But no amount of skill can overcome a user’s propensity to skip the manual and plunge ahead. Unless they are forced to read the manual, tested on the knowledge contained in the manual, and compelled to demonstrate some level of competence with the device. And yet, months later, the manual is nowhere to be found or buried in a dusty JIC (Just In Case) file for some future need. Another observation: the manual travels farther and farther from the device as time marches on. Unless you are smart enough to build a manual holder unobtrusively into the case design of the device. Unfortunately, most electronic devices are smaller than the manual – so no joy to be found there.

Which begs the question: how do you write a manual for devices containing artificial intelligence with self-learning capabilities? Or do you just record (or backup) the device’s state at every use? I would hate to think that years of learning and better decision-making would be lost every time you needed to replace the device or repair its memory. Think about it: genius solutions and performance in the morning and relative stupidity after the repair man leaves

So what’s the point of this blog post? Perhaps it is a plea for you to read your manuals. But, it most likely is an illustration that knowledgeable individuals who can read manuals, solve problems, and deal with cranky people will always have some position in the job market – because, as the night follows the day, most executives do not want to assume the hassle of actually speaking with customers and users after the sale.