Job cuts at Bourbonnais Twp.’s CSL Behring?

CSL Behring’s Bourbonnais Township production site may be hit with cuts in production operation as the Australia-based biotech company seeks to alter its vaccine division.

CSL is Kankakee County’s largest manufacturing site in terms of employees with some 1,500 workers.

According to published reports, CSL is seeking to let go of 3,000 employees due to what the company has labeled “unprecedented volatility” in the industry.

This volatility has resulted in the publicly-traded company shares heading downward.

The Kankakee County-based production site, which is on a 138-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Bradley Boulevard and Armour Road, has been a mainstay since the 1950s.

The majority of the company’s profits come through the sale of its blood plasma treatments for rare disorders.

The company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of plasma-derived medications. The company’s biotherapies treat a variety of disorders, including hemophilia and hereditary angioedema.

In a Reuters report, the company said it market analyst forecasts with a 14% increase in annual profit, but said it was “carving off its vaccine unit” where profit dipped due to what its Chief Executive Officer call “highly irrational” weakness in the U.S.

For its chief product line, the company collects blood plasma from the public mostly in the U.S. and converts it to medical treatments.

A CSL Plasma center was opened about two years ago along Bradley Boulevard, immediately south of the CSL Behring production facility.

CSL Plasma pays donors for materials within the blood draw to develop their therapies.

CSL has reported slower-than-expected profit growth. The said it closed 22 collection centers this month and would consolidate its research and development operations. This move all culminates in a reduction of up to 15% of all workers outside its U.S. plasma unit.

In a statement from CSL Kankakee, officials noted CSL Global announced a number of strategic initiatives to reshape the business, simplify its operating model and enhance its critical and commercial execution.

“We will become more efficient across the organization and redirect the savings to high priority growth initiatives, including boosting our clinical and commercial pipeline programs and developing new disease targets,” the statement read.

“The impact is up to 15% and represents the totality of changes across our global businesses as we implement our strategic initiatives.”

The statement noted CSL Kankakee continues to play a “vital role” in the company’s global manufacturing network, serving as a center for innovation and a strong advocate for community engagement.

In a statement from Paul McKenzie, CSL’s CEO, said: “Our business has grown this year despite an unprecedented level of challenge and volatility in our external operating environment.”

Figures regarding the value of the separation were not provided. The separation process is expected to be completed in early 2026.

CSL said the restructure would save up to $550 million a year within three years, although it would incur a one-off, pre-tax charge of up to $770 million in its current financial year.

He said this change will allow CSL to focus on its core strengths.

The Reuters reported noted, Craig Sidney, a senior investment advisor with the Shaw and Partners firm, said the cutbacks will have the impact on earnings growth and “that’s what the market seems to be focused on at the moment.”