Global electronics manufacturer Philips plans to shutter its hospital respiratory care facility in Wallingford and shed 140 jobs there by the end of 2020, the company said Friday.
The factory makes respiratory care equipment for hospitals.
Philips will discontinue some legacy product lines and shift remaining production to a third-party manufacturer and another Philips facility in Costa Rica over the next two years.
Meanwhile, Wallingford R&D positions will be moved to Philips’ facility in Carlsbad, Calif., the company said.
The company said in a statement the move is part of an effort to streamline the manufacturing and R&D footprint of its hospital respiratory care business.
Roughly 50 of the 140 positions affected in Wallingford will remain in the U.S., the company said.
In a statement blasting the move, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, said many of the jobs were going to Mexico and Costa Rica.
“Philips’s decision to outsource manufacturing jobs from Connecticut is shocking,” she said. “My office will be fully engaged with any constituents who are impacted by Philips’s decision. Families in Wallingford and across Connecticut deserve better than losing their jobs in a global race to the bottom. We cannot let them become just another statistic.”
In an email, Philips spokesman Mario Fante did not name the third-party manufacturer but said it was an American company with U.S. headquarters and a manufacturing presence throughout North America.
He said Philips is “absolutely committed to our U.S. market presence,” pointing to a major new American headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. and new U.S. locations in Nashville and Pittsburgh.
He said the company, which employs 21,000 people in the U.S., will continue to have a Connecticut presence at its North America Personal Health location in Stamford.
Natalie Missakian can be reached at news@newhavenbiz.com
