Laid off from Thermo Fisher.
Thermo Fisher closes sites slowly. Weaverville's freezer plant gave notice close to a year before its first layoffs, Franklin's instrument site scheduled most of its separations 11 months out, PPD's Middleton lab spreads its departures over five months, and some of the work, and some of the people, move to other Thermo Fisher sites.
At a glance
What's known about Thermo Fisher severance and layoffs
- 11 filings covering 1,238 jobs · WARN filings since 2025, our tracker
- 5 filings covering 783 jobs · Thermo Fisher filings in 2026, our tracker
- 423 jobs, Asheville, North Carolina, January 2026 · Largest filing since 2025
- About 5%, per the 10-K · Workforce reached by 2025 severance actions
- About $220 million, mostly lab and biopharma services · Restructuring charges identified as of July 31, 2026
- Orlando office 2025, Middleton lab 2026 · PPD clinical research closures on record
- Not published for any round we track · Severance terms
Recent Thermo Fisher layoffs
Thermo Fisher closes PPD's Middleton lab and files again in Franklin
On July 8, 2026, Thermo Fisher told Wisconsin it's closing the lab at 3230 Deming Way in Middleton, with 69 jobs ending between Sept. 28, 2026 and March 1, 2027 as its U.S. bioanalytical work consolidates in Richmond, Virginia. Our tracker records that filing under the PPD name. On Aug. 13, 2026, a 15-job Franklin, Massachusetts filing followed, with layoffs dated Oct. 16.
Previous rounds
Thermo Fisher layoff history
A Thermo Fisher closure letter can arrive a year before the job ends, which means months of doing the work while it gets ready to leave for another site. That's a hard way to lose a job. Thermo Fisher told North Carolina about its Weaverville freezer plant north of Asheville on Jan. 8, 2026, with initial layoffs set for Dec. 31 and more through the end of 2027, and a Jan. 23 letter to Massachusetts put most of the Franklin instrument site's separations on Dec. 31. Across the company, the tracker counts 11 filings covering 1,238 jobs since the start of 2025, in five states, and 63 all time.
Thermo Fisher sizes its cuts in its own filings. Severance actions tied to facility consolidations and cost reduction measures reached about 5% of the workforce in 2023, about 2% in 2024 and about 5% in 2025, and about 1% in 2026 through the second quarter. Restructuring and other costs ran $459 million, $379 million and $362 million over those three years. As of July 31, 2026, the company had identified further actions it expected to add about $220 million in charges, mostly in Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services, the segment that reports lab products, pharma services and clinical research, and it expected to identify more. MedTech Dive reported headcount of about 130,000 at the close of 2022 and 122,000 a year on.
Several of the sites being cut were built or staffed up between 2019 and 2022. Thermo Fisher added 200 workers at Weaverville in 2021, when the plant turned out hundreds of ultra-low-temperature freezers a day for COVID-19 vaccines. It opened a Plainville viral vector plant in August 2022 saying it would add about 300 jobs, closed a Lexington viral vector site that had opened in late 2019, then in January 2025 filed to cut 300 jobs in Cambridge and Plainville, which a spokesperson tied to shifts in customer timelines and utilization needs. In Carlsbad it filed in April 2024 to cut 74 jobs, effective May 31, at a plasmid DNA lab announced in December 2020 with 150 expected jobs. The newest Carlsbad filing, 173 jobs in January 2026, is classified with the state as a temporary layoff, and nothing in the reporting we track says why.
The clinical research business has been cut in smaller pieces. An April 2025 letter closed an Orlando office and cut 58 researchers, nurses and staff tied to Thermo Fisher's PPD Clinical Research Services division. The July 2026 Middleton notice, recorded under the PPD name in our tracker and signed by a human resources vice president for the Clinical Research Group, lists each affected title with its own separation date, from clinical auditing specialists to chemistry scientists and two remote project managers. The company says the bioanalytical work is consolidating in Richmond, Virginia and several people will move to its Middleton GMP lab, the same lab Wisconsin backed in June 2024 with up to $2.15 million in tax credits to expand the clinical research business.
If you're working through one of these long notice periods, plan around the date on your own letter and get any change in writing, because counts move. Franklin's went from 103 in the Jan. 23 letter to 80 by early February, with no explanation given. It's worth reading what a notice leaves out, too. Middleton's doesn't mention severance at all, so ask HR which written plan an offer comes from before you sign a release. Look up your site's filing in our WARN filings tracker.
Reporting on previous Thermo Fisher layoff rounds
August 2026, Franklin, Massachusetts · A second 2026 Franklin filing, 15 jobs, with layoffs dated Oct. 16, 2026
July 2026, PPD lab, Middleton, Wisconsin · 69 jobs as the 3230 Deming Way facility closes and bioanalytical work moves to Richmond, Virginia, with separations from Sept. 28, 2026 to March 1, 2027
Earned wages and agreed benefits per the notice; no severance terms named.
January 2026, Carlsbad, California · 173 jobs, classified with the state as a temporary layoff ending March 18, 2026
January 2026, Franklin, Massachusetts · 103 of the site's 200 jobs in the Jan. 23 letter, later cut to 80, with the other 120 people to be reassigned or invited to apply internally
January 2026, Weaverville plant near Asheville, North Carolina · 421 jobs in the Jan. 8 letter, 423 in the state listing our tracker holds, with initial layoffs Dec. 31, 2026 and more through the end of 2027
July 2025, Carlsbad, California · 85 manufacturing jobs across two sites, 52 and 33, ending Sept. 15, 2025
April 2025, Orlando, Florida (PPD clinical research) · 58 researchers, nurses and staff as the 100 W. Gore Street office closed, with cuts from June 28 to Oct. 31, 2025
January 2025, Cambridge and Plainville, Massachusetts · 300 jobs effective March 30, 2025, on top of 160 noticed in November 2024
April 2024, Carlsbad, California · 74 jobs at the plasmid DNA manufacturing lab, effective May 31, 2024
What to do after being laid off from Thermo Fisher
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Thermo Fisher's biggest hubs: North Carolina, Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Thermo Fisher's hub states run: North Carolina, Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Thermo Fisher layoff and severance questions
Is Thermo Fisher laying off employees in 2026?
Yes. The tracker counts 5 filings covering 783 jobs in four states so far in 2026, starting with January's 423-job Asheville plant closure, then Franklin, Carlsbad, PPD's Middleton lab and a 15-job Franklin filing in August. Thermo Fisher's second-quarter 10-Q says 2026 severance actions reached about 1% of its workforce, and that as of July 31 it had identified restructuring actions it expected to cost about $220 million more.
Does Thermo Fisher pay severance when it closes a site?
Each Thermo Fisher round in the reporting we track has no terms on record. Middleton's notice to Wisconsin commits to paying earned wages and benefits already agreed and doesn't mention severance. In aggregate the money is real. The company paid $175 million in 2025, and $65 million in 2026's first six months, against a restructuring accrual its filings say mainly covers severance and other facility consolidation costs.
Has Thermo Fisher cut jobs at PPD?
Yes, in two closures on record. An April 2025 letter shut an Orlando office at 100 W. Gore Street, cutting 58 researchers, nurses and staff tied to the PPD Clinical Research Services division. In July 2026 Thermo Fisher filed to close its lab at 3230 Deming Way in Middleton, Wisconsin, cutting 69 jobs as U.S. bioanalytical work consolidates in Richmond, Virginia, a filing our tracker records under the PPD name. The $220 million of actions identified as of July 31, 2026 were mostly in the segment that reports clinical research.
Why is Thermo Fisher closing the Asheville plant?
The Jan. 8, 2026 letter to North Carolina gave no reason. By email the company said it must sometimes evolve to stay in line with current customer demands, that certain product lines will move to other U.S. facilities, and that the closure doesn't reflect a strategic change in its commitment to U.S. manufacturing or its investment in North Carolina, home to around 7,800 of its employees across 13 sites. The letter counted 421 jobs; the state listing in our tracker shows 423.
Can I transfer to another Thermo Fisher site instead of being laid off?
Sometimes. After Franklin's layoffs were cut from 103 to 80, a spokesperson said the other 120 employees would be reassigned or given a chance to apply for jobs inside the company, and in Middleton several people losing bioanalytical jobs are moving to the company's GMP lab in the same city. At Middleton and Orlando, though, the notices say affected workers had no bumping rights, so they couldn't displace less senior colleagues. Get any transfer offer in writing before your separation date.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Thermo Fisher?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Thermo Fisher's biggest U.S. hubs are North Carolina, Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Thermo Fisher?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Thermo Fisher?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Thermo Fisher?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.