Ginkgo Bioworks to slash labor costs, jobs

Firm declines to give number of cuts as 1st-quarter revenue drops 53%

After lackluster first-quarter earnings, ginkgo Bioworks said it will slash labor expenses by at least 25 percent, which will include an unspecified number of job cuts.

Total revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was $38 million, down from $81 million for the same period last year, a decrease of 53 percent, according to the Boston-based cell programming and biosecurity company.

The firm also lowered its predicted full-year revenue to a range of $170 million to $190 million, down about 20 percent from its previously predicted range of $215 million to $235 million.

“ginkgo is an increasingly important part of the biotech ecosystem, and we are taking decisive action to keep it that way,” said Jason

Kelly, the firm’s cofounder and chief executive. he said he was disappointed in the revenues for the quarter and that “this trend needs to change.”

ginkgo had 1,218 employees at the end of last year, according to filings with the us securities and Exchange Commission. The firm declined to say how many jobs it planned to cut.

ginkgo originally started as a synthetic biology business in 2008. in recent years, it has tried to expand its biosecurity business, which got started during the Covid pandemic, into monitoring wastewater for pathogens. ginkgo became publicly traded in 2021 after merging with a special purpose acquisition company.