Illumina cuts 5% of its workforce

(Reuters) – Illumina Inc said on Monday it was cutting 5% of its global workforce to realign its operating expenses as stubborn inflation and a strong dollar weigh on the genetic sequencing equipment maker’s business.

The company said it was expecting to take a restructuring charge, which would include expenses related to optimizing its facilities, in the fourth quarter.

The layoffs come on the back of a near $4 billion impairment it took in the third quarter related to its cancer test unit GRAIL.

The company, which is in the process of launching its next-generation NovaSeq X DNA sequencing systems, has over 9,100 employees globally, according to its website.

(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)