GSK takeover means job cuts at Human Genome Sciences

 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2012With employment numbers making news, a smaller slice of figures emerged Thursday that reminds everybody that job destruction happens when a business buys another, whatever governments might be doing.Though Human Genome Sciences wasn't saying anything, the Associated Press reported that HGS had notified Maryland authorities, as per law, that it was planning to lay off 114 people.Based in Rockville, Md., HGS was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in August after a months-long process.Based in London, Glaxo has a big operation in Center City Philadelphia and other facilities elsewhere in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.Glaxo CEO Andrew Witty was a bit more open than most CEOs of acquiring companies when he said that some of the cost savings that shareholders love would come through job cuts following the closure of the deal.Meanwhile, Friday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report indicated that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent.However, perhaps reflecting increased efforts to slow the rate of growth health-care costs, the average increase in health-care jobs has slowed. The bureau said that from June through August, jobgrowth in health care averaged 15,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 28,000 in the prior 12 months.