BASF laying off 107 workers in Wake County

MORRISVILLE – BASF will soon lay off 107 workers from its Morrisville facility along Paramount Parkway, according to a public report from the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

This is the company’s Innovation Center. A required notice sent by the company to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which was obtained by WRAL TechWire, notes that all employees at the facility will be impacted and the closure is expected to be permanent.

“All affected employees have been notified of their separation dates and that their separation from employment will be permanent unless they are able to secure other open roles within BASF,” the notice, which is required under law, reads. “Employees are expected to be separated from employment beginning on May 16, 2022, with all separations accomplished by August 2022.”

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Report indicates that the company will lay off 107 workers, and the company’s delivered notice, dated March 15, lists the positions impacted. They include scientists, systems analysts, biochemists, graduate scholars, R&D specialists, group leaders, and the head of microbiome diversity, among other roles.

After $9B Bayer deal, BASF’s agtech footprint grows in Triangle

Employees may be able to fill other roles

The company currently lists 27 open roles in Durham or in Research Triangle Park on its careers website.

Should employees whose roles will be terminated wish to remain at BASF, the company noted in the letter that there “will not be any bumping rights for the affected employees, that is, employees will not be able to displace junior employees out of their job positions because of these closures.”

The employees are not represented by a union, the notice states.

The disclosure comes weeks after a Canadian firm announced layoffs in Mebane. There are also four Greensboro firms that have announced layoffs this year.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filings are required by federal law.

The company announced a $9 billion deal with Bayer in 2018, and the innovation center facility was a part of that deal, according to prior reporting from WRAL TechWire and the NCBiotech Center.