Job Hunting in Minneapolis

Minneapolis based Medtronic, one of the countries largest producers of cardiac devices, plans to do away with approximately 900 jobs. The company is scaling back as a result of the fact that the market for its products has slowed down. Michael Barr, an analyst for Victory Capital Management, which owns shares in Medtronic says that they have known “Medtronic was scaling back for a while.” He goes on to say that “as the market slows, it's only appropriate.”The jobs are approximately 2.4 percent of the company's workforce and will save Medtronic about $125 million a year.

Some of the positions to be lost may effect Minneapolis jobs. According to a spokesperson for Medtronic, 500 of the jobs cut will be from the cardiac rhythm management section of the business, 200 will be from the cardiovascular business, and 200 will be from the Physio-Control subsidiary. There are plans for the latter to become and independent company in the near future as soon as issues with the Food and Drug Administration are resolved.

As of the end of July, 349 of jobs online had already been cut. The remainder of the positions will be eliminated through early retirement packages and both voluntary and involuntary separations. Medtronic plans to stagger these out between now and April 2008, which is the end of the Fiscal year. In doing so, many employees will have plenty of time to locate new employment.

Future jobs in Minneapolis to be cut are not expected at this time. Although the market has slowed, it is still profitable enough to support current staff, as Medtronic still has revenues of $12.3 billion. Barr says that this is the only option for the company to continue to profit considering the fact that the market “isn't recovering as fast as people had hoped.”

For those effected by Medtronic's layoffs, there is always the option of seeking employment in Minneapolis with Minneapolis-based St. Jude Medical. Aside from providing healthcare careers, St. Jude manufactures the same or similar products to those produced by Medtronic and is one of the top three medical device makers. Boston based Boston Scientific is the also another option for those not opposed to relocation.