AstraZeneca to shed 100 jobs

Less than two years after revealing a multimillion-dollar upgrade plan for its Hurdsfield plant AstraZeneca is cutting back, slashing almost 100 jobs in what the the GMB called a “hammer blow” to U.K. manufacturing.

AstraZeneca will let go of 94 employees—out of a total of around 1,800—at the Macclesfield facility in Cheshire, according to GMB Union, which said the cut wouldn’t take place until 2020. The Macclesfield site, which makes medicines such as legacy prostate cancer drug Zoladex, is AZ’s second largest manufacturing facility.

The layoff isn’t necessarily a poor reflection on AZ’s business. It follows a $50 million investment made on the packaging plant. Following the upgrade, AZ said its efficiency has increased significantly, and according to GMB, that means fewer employees are needed.

AZ has two other operations in Cheshire, including the Alderley Park R&D centre —whose functions and employees are being moved to the new Cambridge, U.K., campus—and a vaccine research team at Speke, near Liverpool. It’s not clear whether jobs at those sites will be affected.