U.S .Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., issued the following statement regarding plans to cut employment at AstraZeneca.
As governor, Carper led the effort to relocate the company’s North American headquarters to Wilmington. He was joined by the other two members of the state’s congressional delegation in responding to the decision.
Today’s announcement by AstraZeneca is a body blow to our state and, most importantly, to the thousands of AstraZeneca employees who call Delaware home. As governor, I led an amazing team effort to convince AstraZeneca to bring its North American headquarters to Delaware and to commit to growing its company in our state. I had faith that this was an effort that would create new, good-paying jobs, generate economic activity, and help build a better quality of life for thousands of high-skill workers in the First State.
For years, AstraZeneca has been that good corporate citizen in Delaware, which is what makes this decision all the more painful for me and especially for those 650 men and women who will lose their jobs at the company and the additional 550 employees whose jobs will leave Delaware for other locations. On one hand, we are grateful that another option – the complete closure of operations in Delaware – was averted and that 2,300 jobs will remain in Delaware along with AstraZeneca’s global headquarters.
I remain hopeful that AstraZeneca can eventually overcome this adversity and find new ways to make their company more competitive in the future, but this outcome is still deeply, deeply disappointing. But I like to quote Albert Einstein who said, ‘In adversity lies opportunity.’ In the face of such daunting news, pursuing opportunity can be challenging. But the Governor, our congressional delegation and I will be relentless in our efforts to recruit new industry and tenants to fill this hole that AstraZeneca is leaving behind, so hopefully neither the facilities nor these employees will be idle for long.
Delaware is a prime place to do business because we have some of the best workers in the world, and any industry could and should succeed here in the First State.”“This is a disappointing day for Delaware, and devastating news for the 1,200 AstraZeneca employees and their families affected by this decision. Delawareans will stand with our neighbors during this challenging time, and I am committed to doing whatever I can to help them through it. I have spoken with AstraZeneca’s leadership and will continue to advocate on behalf of those impacted by this decision. Our talented workforce has long made Delaware a destination for companies doing advanced research, and it is my hope that some of these positions will find their way back home to Delaware soon. There is a wide array of innovative companies doing high-end research that could really benefit from the enormously talented scientists and researchers now looking for work.”
U.S. Sen. and former New Castle County Executive Chris Coons issued the following comment:
“This is a disappointing day for Delaware, and devastating news for the 1,200 AstraZeneca employees and their families affected by this decision. Delawareans will stand with our neighbors during this challenging time, and I am committed to doing whatever I can to help them through it. I have spoken with AstraZeneca’s leadership and will continue to advocate on behalf of those impacted by this decision. Our talented workforce has long made Delaware a destination for companies doing advanced research, and it is my hope that some of these positions will find their way back home to Delaware soon. There is a wide array of innovative companies doing high-end research that could really benefit from the enormously talented scientists and researchers now looking for work.”
The state’s lone congressman, John Carney, also responded with the following:
“The announcement that AstraZeneca plans to eliminate 1,200 jobs from their Delaware headquarters is a huge disappointment. This development is terrible news for our state, and in particular, for the dedicated, hard-working employees who are going to lose their jobs due to corporate restructuring.
While today’s decision is a significant setback, Delaware is still well-positioned to attract highly-skilled, good-paying jobs in science, technology, and research. But we must redouble our efforts to create a business climate in Delaware that is attractive to employers. In the meantime, I will work with the Congressional delegation and Governor Markell to do all that we can to help the workers and their families get through this difficult situation and ensure they have the resources to take advantage of new job opportunities.”
