Medtronic disclosed plans Tuesday to lay off 2,000 employees worldwide, including 70 in California, but the impact on its Sonoma County business unit was not clear.
About half of the reductions will hit workers in the United States, and the other half affect workers abroad, spokeswoman Cindy Resman said in an email.
"We aren't providing any additional detail, but I do want to emphasize that in California, for the most part, employees who are affected have already been notified," Resman said. "There are multiple locations in (California), so the 70 is not all in Santa Rosa and while there are reductions in some areas, we are also adding in other areas."
The Santa Rosa-based vascular division, which employed 840 workers in Sonoma County last year, makes coronary stents and stent graft systems for treating artery disease.
The staff reductions primarily hit the company's cardiac and vascular group and its spine group, Resman said. The remaining reductions will happen in the current fiscal year, which began April 27.
"Nearly half are related to manufacturing consolidation efforts as we continue to focus on reducing product cost," Resman said.
The company employs 45,000 individuals worldwide, and has 555 open positions posted on its website based at its facilities around the globe, including 105 in California, Resman said.
Medtronic reported fourth-quarter revenues of $4.5 billion, up 5 percent from a year ago. It reported net earnings of $969 million, or 95 cents per diluted share, a decrease of 2 percent and an increase of 1 percent, respectively, over the same period in the prior year. Excluding one-time events, the company would have earned $1.12 billion, or $1.10 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations.
Medtronic shares jumped to $52.35, up $2.46 on the New York Stock Exchange.
"These fourth quarter results were a strong finish to a solid fiscal year, and more importantly, represented another step toward our goal of delivering consistent and dependable growth, and I am proud of the performance of our entire global team," Omar Ishrak, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The company reported annual revenues of $16.6 billion for fiscal year 2013, an increase of 5 percent after adjusting for foreign currencies.
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