Heard it's happening tomorrow or possibly Wednesday at 12:00. They may be outsourcing for extra security.

Holy smokes! If there are 4000 employees then that is 1000 people! WTF? I can't wait to hear what is driving this.

Package is one weeks pay for every year of service, 20% is just the start, Milwalkee is next, entire company supposedly to cut 25% by the end of the year.

20%? How many employees are in St. Louis? I will say that the mood is grim. Everyone is on edge. Who is next? What is the package? Good luck!

St Louis will cut 20%, 9/24

Use up your Dick days, Monday September 24 is the day, I cant say anymore.

Any truth to prep'ing for/desire to be acquired rumors?

@Fluka: any more info on this? Were they on PIP?

Anyone know what Departments the latest layoffs are affecting?

Sigma is on a layoff roll again - St Louis is affected...

@Anonymous , Monday 8/20/12 5:11 AM Fired? Or laid off? No packages?

There were more layoffs last week. Small numbers to hide the company from any media coverage of course. They closed a department that was in WI, PA, and MO. However, most of the MO group is okay for now or until they train the group in India most... — read more 

Any news about possible cuts at BR?

So sigma had to make up for the cash purchase of bio reliance somehow. Might as well fire some folks...

Philosophical differences with car guys about the value of R&D? Car guys want instant payback on "applied" research?

Did you guys catch up on Dave Smoller's platinum parachute? Good for Dave!!! He was an awesome leader. No doubt the reason he left. He has sold stock since the beginning of the year. I wonder if he knew something... — read more 

Thanks for the explanations. Now I get it. How cheap.

Pip is performance improvement plan. If you receive a negative review, you are generally placed on a pip. In the past, this is how the company reduced workforce without officially calling it a "layoff". Generally once you are on a pip it is Very... — read more 

Anonymous @2:03 pm - before we accumulated all annual vacation days on 4/1. That meant that if you quit on 4/1 the company would pay you for all of your vacation days. Now you accrue vacation days on a monthly basis. Say for that you are entitled to... — read more 

I am a complete idiot on this stuff - what was the actual significance exactly of the vacation rearrangement and what is a PIP please?

I know that Rakesh sent out that email about 200 total employees impacted by the layoffs, but don't trust it. Please believe that they will begin the process of cutting the bottom layer of employees with the PIPs (a.k.a. 30/60/90s).

Think of the cost savings with the new termination "package", oh, I mean vacation, accrual that was quickly put into place right before this round of layoffs that did and will continue to affect many senior employees with four to five weeks of... — read more 

I heard that there will be an additional 100 workers laid off in the next two weeks. No details on the locations or the areas of the organization impacted.

The stock has been downgraded by a couple of credit rating agencies. I am sure that the powers-that-be are running through the hallways with their hair on fire.

Hey guys - what geo regions are being affected by the cuts (nothing in my neck of the woods)...

About one month ago, five long-time manager/director level employees were terminated at Buchs (Fluka), including one 55-year old guy with 30+ years service; in addition, two senior level sales and BD guys, one at Munich, the other in Italy, were... — read more 

The vp of purchasing is the shit. Very accomplished. Very wise. Now I don't feel bad for getting the ax. I thought ecommerce was moved under IT. I am surprised because that group threw away money and didn't have much to show for it. Also I heard that... — read more 

Most of the e-commerce group was eliminated. Corporate head of purchasing was terminated. We heard the VP of R&D opted to retire, or that's the unofficial word. There has been zero communication in the company regarding these layoffs. Consequently... — read more 

Nobody ever accused the current executive management team of being farsighted. No vision. No strategic vision. No plan. . . .oh. . . .there is a plan: reduce costs through lopping off HCE's (bonus eligigle types) and long-timers who know how the... — read more 

My department went through THREE C-LEVEL leaders in my short tenure there. This is clearly an organization that doesn't have a clue about their identity, their goals, and what is needed to accomplish their goals. All changes are a reaction and not... — read more 

@"Anonymous , Saturday 7/21/12 9:19 PM" - well put, HR is gone anyway. And yes, elitist or not, it's a good time to be Indian (in IT or Shared Services)

One more thing...Next year when Sigma learns that the offshoring model doesn't work, there will be another initiative. Get it together. Figure out the vision and give it time to work!

Outsourcing HR shouldn't be a huge difference because the local HR did absolutely nothing. All HR functions were already outsourced - payroll, health benefit questions, etc. The only function that HR in St. Louis has is to axe employees. Clearly they... — read more 

@AK. You are clueless. The job market is extremely grim for everybody.

The HR outsourcing deal is plain stupid - I used to work for a large corp who did this and I can tell you that we may be better off by just replacing all HR personnel with computers or websites. The quality is poor and after one or two calls or... — read more 

Sigma-Aldrich is planning to outsource its HR functions to India. Nice touch. Now employees can consult with their friendly HR representative and get customer service for their computer problems as well. Sigma is big on "one-stop" shopping.

I was one of the folks let go in January 2012. Spend many years here and it was hard to let go. For all of you who are on the chopping block right now: There is hope, do not worry, if you have skills and are willing to pick up the pieces and move on... — read more 

It's a pity that such a small group of greed senior executives (only interested in lining their pockets) brought this fine company to it's knees. You see them still extract bonuses and million dollar salaries while they are cutting into the meat of... — read more 

Did you know that there was a staffing analyst contracted to evaluate the corporate structure? I have known about it for at least five months. Also, the layoffs didn't just start. There were several small scale layoffs in January and June, then the... — read more 

Did you know that there was a staffing analyst contracted to evaluate the corporate structure? I have known about it for at least five months. Also, the layoffs didn't just start. There were several small scale layoffs in January and June, then the... — read more