A smaller Bayer
Pittsburgh rues a longtime neighbor’s downsizing
Bayer put down stakes in Pittsburgh in 1958, when the city was undergoing its first renaissance. It was still here for Renaissance II in the 1970s, weathered the collapse of steel in the years that followed and stuck around even after other big companies, like Gulf Oil and Rockwell International, disappeared or moved their headquarters out of town during the lean years.
It’s a shame that Bayer will be significantly scaling back its presence here now when the city arguably is better than it’s ever been. The Germany-based health sciences company announced Tuesday that it will close its Robinson campus over the next two years, a move that will affect about
600 employees, as it restructures operations following its acquisition of seed manufacturer Monsanto.
The Robinson campus served as Bayer’s North American headquarters until 2012. Bayer moved the headquarters to New Jersey that year but left some functions, including accounting, legal services and information technology, in place. Now, with plans to consolidate operations in New Jersey and St. Louis, the company says it doesn’t need the Robinson office any more.
Relocating the headquarters was a bad decision, the kind often made for the sheer convenience of executives, and the new decision to downsize the company’s local footprint, made without regard for the employees, is just as bad. Realtor Magazine just ranked Pittsburgh second on a list of the nation’s seven safest, most affordable cities. No place in Missouri or New Jersey made the list.
While the loss of about 600 jobs is bad enough — Pittsburgh still struggles to boost population and that’s why it’s still so affordable— Bayer’s downsizing may be felt in other ways in coming years. The company, which long has contributed to cultural organizations and science education through its philanthropic arm, has said it will maintain its local financial commitments for the next two years. What happens after that is an open question.
In some ways, Bayer’s legacy will live on. About 1,300 employees of Bayer’s radiology business will remain working at three other locations in Allegheny and Butler counties. Hopefully, Bayer’s radiology operations will provide the incentive for continued civic investment here.
Pittsburgh also is fortunate to have Covestro, a now independent company that Bayer birthed in 2015 to take over its material science business. Covestro has about 750 employees on the Robinson campus — it leases the space from Bayer — and uses the site as its North American headquarters.
Bayer’s tenure here has straddled two eras, the old Pittsburgh and the new, and it has contributed to both. But the company is moving in the wrong direction. It should be building its presence here, not diminishing it, as Pittsburgh continues its comeback.