Welch Allyn owner plans to reduce its workforce; Skaneateles impact not yet known

SKANEATELES, N.Y. — Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., the owner of medical-device maker Welch Allyn in Skaneateles Falls, has announced a workforce-reduction plan.

Chicago, Illinois–based Hill-Rom announced the plan in a Sept. 15 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The effort is part of the company’s “continued business optimization initiatives,” per the SEC filing. The initiatives are designed to advance the company’s strategy and growth platforms, and improve its operations and cost structure.

Howard Karesh, VP of corporate communications, tells CNYBJ that the COVID-19 pandemic “is a factor” in the workforce-reduction plan, having had a “negative impact” on sales in “certain parts” of Hill-Rom’s global business and positive impacts in other area.

The plan includes a voluntary retirement program and involuntary severance actions.

When asked how the plan could affect Welch Allyn in Skaneateles Falls, Karesh notes that “…since the application time period [for the early retirement program] is still underway, it’s too early to know how many of our colleagues will participate in that initiative.”

Hill-Rom bought Welch Allyn in 2015.

Hill-Rom expects the plan “to be substantially complete” in 2021 and estimates that it will result in a restructuring charge of about $35 million, which is related to employee termination and severance costs.