Store closure, biotech layoffs jolt Bay Area job market with fresh cutbacks

Fresh waves of job cuts have washed through a Bay Area job market that’s already wobbly, a surge of staffing reductions at a big store and a local biotech company that together will jettison hundreds more workers.

Cepheid, a biotech and medical devices firm; and Target, a high-profile department store, have both revealed job cuts in filings with the state Employment Development Department.

The latest rounds of job cuts affect workers in Sunnyvale, East Palo Alto and Fremont, the WARN notices that the two companies sent to the state EDD show.

All told, more than 700 Bay Area workers are slated to lose their jobs in the next several weeks as a result of the new layoff disclosures by Cepheid and Target.

Here is how the layoffs will affect workers at the three Bay Area locations, according to the WARN notices:

— Cepheid is cutting 635 jobs, consisting of 624 layoffs of workers in Sunnyvale and staffing reductions for 11 employees in Fremont.

— Target is cutting 83 jobs at its store at 1775 East Bayshore Road in East Palo Alto.

The Cepheid layoffs are slated to take place on Sept. 27. The Target layoffs are due to occur on Sept. 28.

The two companies both described their respective job cuts as permanent, according to the WARN letters.

The Target job cuts are occurring in connection with a “permanent closure” of the East Palo Alto store.

Some Target stores in the Bay Area have closed due to crime problems such as theft. Target didn’t state in the WARN letter what was the primary factor behind the store shutdown.

“Cepheid will offer all impacted associates on-site outplacement services provided by a third-party vendor, free of charge,” C.J. Schrotenboer, Cepheid’s vice president of human resources, wrote in the WARN letter to the EDD.