More than 300 people will be laid off from Cumberland County plant beginning next month

It’s no surprise that GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, will close a manufacturing facility in Carlisle.

Last February, the company said it would transfer operations at the plant site off Allen Road would transfer to Puerto Rico. At the time, the company said the decision would impact about 260 people.

But according to a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice that was filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, the number of layoffs at the plant is actually higher. The company said in the filing that 308 people will be laid off in eight phases between Sept. 18 and April 16.

The company provided the following statement to PennLive:

“In 2020, GSK made the difficult decision to cease operations at our site in Carlisle, PA, which impacts approximately 300 employees. We had an opportunity to consolidate volumes and generate efficiencies by moving the production of Emergen-C® to our Guayama, Puerto Rico site. At the time of the announcement, we advised employees that operations would be phased out of Carlisle by mid-2021, with a full exit by the beginning of 2022. We filed official paperwork July 6, 2021, with the Mayor of Carlisle and Borough Manager, as well as other state officials, as part of our obligation to permanently close the site. Whenever we identify the need for changes that impact the future of any of our sites and employees, we take great care to communicate these changes thoughtfully and provide support to employees.”

The WARN Act is federal legislation that offers protection to workers, their families and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of a covered-business closing and covered-business mass layoff. However, some companies are unable to provide notice 60 days ahead of time due to unforeseen circumstances.

GlaxoSmithKline uses the site at 219 Allen Road to make Emergen-C, a powdered drink mix vitamin C supplement. The company launched the production line a decade ago, when the product was made by Alacer Corp., which was acquired by Pfizer in 2012. Then, in late 2018, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline announced plans to merge their consumer health divisions into a new joint venture. That merger was completed in 2019, with GlaxoSmithKline owning 68 percent of the new entity, and Pfizer owning 32 percent of the new joint venture.