Bayer, a global pharmaceutical and life science company, this week announced plans to make changes to its operations in Hawai‘i to "strengthen agricultural innovation" in the Islands.
In an announcement Wednesday, Bayer said the changes aim to "better align its land, facilities and resources with the future needs of the company's work in plant breeding, data-driven decision-making and agricultural technologies."
According to the July 22 announcement, these changes include consolidating some of Bayer's farm activities on O‘ahu and Maui over time, which will affect about 76 employees.
Bayer says it has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN Act, notice, but that notice has not yet been posted online.
In addition to several months advance notice and severance packages for eligible affected employees, Bayer says it also will offer support services throughout the transition, including career coaching, resume and interview preparation, job search assistance and financial well-being resources, the announcement noted.
"Bayer will continue operating on Maui, Molokai and O‘ahu, where its teams play a significant role in developing high-quality, sustainable seed products for farmers in the U.S. and internationally," it states.
“These changes are part of a broader transition that supports Bayer’s ongoing success in developing high-value seeds for agriculture, and our Hawai‘i operations will continue to play a critical role in that important work," Becky Ryan, Hawai‘i breeding pipeline and delivery lead, said in the announcement. “At the same time, we fully recognize that business changes do affect our employees, and we are heavily focused on supporting them throughout this transition."
When asked about consolidation plans, what farm activities will be affected and when these changes take effect, a Bayer spokesperson told Aloha State Daily in an email that the company did not have additional details to share at this time.
In a 2022 post on its website, Bayer said it had been operating in the Islands for more than 50 years with more than 8,000 acres of farmable cropland dedicated to the "development of new varieties of crops, both conventional and biotech."
The company said in that post that it uses modern agricultural technologies to grow conventional seeds as well as genetically engineered seeds.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
