265 More Bristol Myers Squibb Jobs Tied to New Jersey End by May 2027, Pushing This Year's Notices Past 700

Bristol Myers Squibb will lay off 265 employees in a round that starts on December 17 and runs to May 21, 2027. It is the company's third New Jersey notice of the year, after rounds of 247 and 206 jobs, and the three notices together cover 718 announced layoffs in 2026. If you work at the company's Mercer County campuses, or in the field attached to them, the next few months are the time to get ready. At Metaintro we read layoff news against the filings and the law behind them, because the notice, the severance statute and the state's help desk tell an affected worker far more than a headline does. Here is what the filing contains, what you are owed and where New Jersey drugmakers are still hiring.

What Does the Latest Bristol Myers Squibb Notice Actually Say?

The 2026 notice archive of the state labor department lists Bristol Myers Squibb in Princeton, posted in September, with a workforce affected of 265. The layoffs are scheduled to take place between Dec. 17, 2026, and May 21, 2027.

The filing does not break the cuts down by position or department, so there is no public list of which jobs are going. Under state law, each employee whose job is ending must also get a written notice.

The address on the notice needs one clarification. The archive lists the city as Princeton, while the company's own list of its sites places its corporate headquarters at its Lawrenceville campus on Route 206, which it describes as 1.67 million square feet on a 280 acre site. A second Lawrenceville site on Princeton Pike is a 650,000 square foot facility that houses commercial teams and their research and development and supply partners. The company's corporate headquarters and research operations sit in the Mercer County area, and the notice does not say which of these sites the 265 jobs are tied to.

How Does This Round Compare With the Earlier 2026 Notices?

The two earlier notices this year were listed under Lawrence Township in the state archive. The February notice listed 247 employees, with layoff dates of Oct. 23, Dec. 17 and Dec. 31, and the April notice covered 206 employees, with cuts scheduled between July 16 and Dec. 31. Those earlier filings do not specify the positions or departments affected either.

So the new round is the largest of the three, and the only one of this year's notices that reaches into 2027. Taken together, the company's 2026 filings now cover more than 700 jobs tied to New Jersey, with the final layoffs now scheduled for May 21 of next year.

The pattern goes back further than this year. The 2025 notice archive shows six earlier Bristol Myers Squibb notices for Lawrence Township, covering 67 and 223 workers in February, 516 in May, 68 in June, 282 in September and 110 in November. For anyone at the company, that pattern is the more useful thing to hold on to. Notices have arrived every few months since early last year, according to the 2025 notice archive and the 2026 notice archive, so it makes sense to be ready in case another round follows.

Why Is the Company Still Cutting in New Jersey?

The layoffs stem from a restructuring plan that targets $2 billion in savings by the end of 2027. In its first quarter 2026 results presentation, the company lists a goal to deliver the remainder of $2B savings by end of 2027, under the heading of operating with financial discipline.

The plan dates from February 2025, and as of its April earnings call the company had banked more than $1 billion of savings from 2025, with the remaining $1 billion still to come by the end of 2027. Company executives have said part of those savings is being reinvested in drug development in areas including oncology, hematology, fibrosis and cardiovascular disease.

Costs are climbing even as headcount falls, and the company raised its full year 2026 operating expense forecast to about $16.5 billion in July, pointing to pre-launch costs and investment in newer drugs. The plan shifts spending away from older medicines toward newer drugs in development.

"We continue to align our resources and organizational structure to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving landscape," in the words of a company spokesperson in the NJBIZ story on the notice.

Why Are Workers Outside New Jersey Counted in a New Jersey Notice?

This is the detail that matters most for field staff. A company spokesperson told NJBIZ that the latest notice covers some New Jersey based employees and also some field employees who are not in New Jersey but report to sites in the state.

State law explains why. Under the New Jersey statute, a mass layoff counts the loss of 50 or more employees at or reporting to the establishment during any 30-day period, and an establishment may be a single location or a group of locations, including any facilities in the state. That definition fits the company's statement that the notice includes field employees who are not in New Jersey but report to sites in the state.

The practical point is simple. If you work remotely or in the field but answer to a New Jersey site, read the rules in the next section as rules that can apply to you. State law requires each covered employee to get a written notice, so if you have not received one, ask HR for it in writing.

What Severance Does New Jersey Law Guarantee Affected Staff?

In New Jersey, state law sets a minimum severance for employees in a covered mass layoff. The statute requires severance pay equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment for every employee whose job is ended in a covered layoff.

Several details in the same section work in the worker's favour:

• Notice period. Employers with 100 or more staff must give not less than 90 days of notice before the first termination, or the federal period if that is longer.
• Short notice penalty. An employee who gets less than the required notice is owed an additional four weeks of pay on top of the severance.
• Rate of pay. Severance is calculated at the higher of the average regular rate over the employee's last three years or the final regular rate.
• Bigger package wins. The employer owes the statutory severance or any other severance, such as under a union contract, whichever is greater.

Two more lines in the statute matter at payout time. Severance under the section is regarded as compensation due for back pay and losses tied to the end of the job, and it is earned in full when employment ends. Any back pay paid under the federal notice law for breaking its notice rule is credited toward the state severance, so it counts toward that amount rather than being paid on top of it.

Federal law requires companies with 100 or more employees to give 60 days of notice before a layoff affecting 50 or more workers at one site, and New Jersey's version goes further by mandating severance pay. That gap is why the New Jersey filing matters so much to the people on it.

"No waiver of the right to severance provided pursuant to this section shall be effective without approval of the waiver by the commissioner or a court of competent jurisdiction," under the state statute.

What Else Must the Notice Tell Workers, and What Help Does the State Offer?

The written notice is meant to answer your first questions for you. It must state the number of employees affected and the dates, the reasons for the layoff, any jobs available at the employer's other sites with their pay and benefits, your rights on wages, severance, benefits and pension, the amount of statutory severance payable, and your right to help from the state's response team.

Two of those items deserve a close read. The line on other available employment tells you whether the company has jobs open at its other sites, and on what pay and terms. The severance disclosure lets you check the company's arithmetic against your own years of service.

The state side is run by Rapid Response. The Rapid Response team of the state labor department explains unemployment benefits and eligibility, helps people file claims, and offers reemployment services, including job referrals, One Stop Career Center registration, Jersey Job Clubs and help with resumes. It also introduces state and federal retraining programs available through New Jersey community colleges. The contact on the state's WARN page is RapidResponse@dol.nj.gov or 1-800-343-3919.

The team also comes to the workplace. Rapid Response provides on-site assistance during working hours at no cost, and it holds group meetings with the workforce that include information on how to file for Unemployment Insurance benefits. Its listed services also cover targeted job fair assistance and help with job solicitation campaigns, along with help completing registration forms. If your site offers a group session, it is worth attending, because the claim steps are explained in one place.

How Much Unemployment Pay Can Laid Off Workers Claim in New Jersey?

The maximum weekly Unemployment Insurance benefit in the state is now $905, after rates increased on January 1, 2026, and the maximum for Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance is $1,119. To qualify in 2026, an applicant must earn at least $310 per week for 20 base weeks, or at least $15,500 in the base year as an alternative.

At a maximum of $905 a week, the benefit replaces only part of a large salary, which makes the severance and the timing of the next job more important. Rapid Response explains benefits and eligibility, so ask them about your own case before you file a claim.

Is Bristol Myers Squibb Alone Among New Jersey Drugmakers?

No. The same 2026 state notice archive lists four notices from drugmaker Novartis for East Hanover this year, covering 114, 60, 76 and 322 workers. Rahway based Merck & Co has two notices, for 88 workers in June and 54 in September.

Johnson & Johnson appears twice for New Brunswick, with 86 workers in a May notice and 87 in a September notice filed by Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Merck is also working toward $3 billion in savings by the end of 2027.

For job seekers the lesson cuts both ways. Several large drugmakers have filed New Jersey layoff notices this year, which can mean more competition for the next role. It can also mean that employers still adding staff have more experienced candidates to choose from.

Where Is New Jersey Pharma Still Hiring?

In late May, job postings for the state on the BioSpace site were up 73% year over year, with over 300 positions listed.

That May list named several employers with sizeable openings:

• Insmed had over 50 openings in Bridgewater, including clinical trial operations and clinical supply chain roles.
• Sanofi had over 50 positions in Morristown, including regulatory and clinical data roles.
• Legend Biotech had around 70 openings, including manufacturing engineers in Raritan and process development scientists in Somerset.
• Regeneron had about two dozen openings in Warren, and Daiichi Sankyo had about two dozen in Basking Ridge.
• Novo Nordisk had around 20 positions in Plainsboro, and Moderna was hiring for three roles in commercial and trade operations in Princeton.

Treat that list as a snapshot from May, not a live count. The value is in the names. Those employers were hiring in regulatory, clinical, commercial and manufacturing work, which overlaps with the commercial, research and supply functions the company lists for its Lawrenceville sites.

What This Means for Affected Staff, and What Should You Do Next?

Our take is that this round is less a shock than a schedule. The company has filed notices every few months since early 2025, and its own target runs to the end of 2027, so staff in Lawrenceville and the field should plan as if more rounds are possible, while the market around them is still hiring. The strongest position is to use the long notice period as paid search time.

Here is what we would do:

• Get your notice in writing and read every line. Check the severance figure against your full years of service and the higher of your average or final pay.
• Check for your own notice. State law requires each covered employee to get a written notice, so field and remote staff attached to a New Jersey site who have not received one should ask HR for it in writing.
• Do not sign a release in a hurry. Statutory severance cannot be waived without approval from the commissioner or a court, and any package beyond the statutory amount is worth reading line by line. Our look at what a recent severance plan paid laid off workers shows how to read one.
• Call Rapid Response early. Their help with claims, retraining and job referrals is worth using before your last day, not after.
• Search now, not in May. Target the employers listed above, and when an offer arrives, use our guide on how to negotiate a job offer before you accept.

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People Also Asked

Q: When do the latest Bristol Myers Squibb layoffs take effect?

A: The layoffs of the 265 employees in the latest notice are scheduled between Dec. 17, 2026, and May 21, 2027.

Q: How much severance do laid off New Jersey workers get?

A: Under the state statute, workers in a covered mass layoff get one week of pay for each full year of employment, plus an additional four weeks if they receive less than the required notice.

Q: How many New Jersey jobs has Bristol Myers Squibb cut this year?

A: Its three New Jersey notices this year, for 247, 206 and 265 jobs, account for 718 announced layoffs in 2026, with the last of them scheduled for May 2027.

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