On Tuesday, Chinese manufacturer Lenovo -- a major employer in North Carolina and the Triangle -- confirmed it is laying off 3% of its U.S. workforce, including an unspecified number of employees at its campus in Morrisville. Lenovo's presence in North Carolina is larger than in any other state.
This week, the National Institutes of Health also confirmed that RTP employees are part of their latest round of layoffs, which comes after a Supreme Court ruling that authorized further federal cuts -- part of the Trump administration's efforts to scale back funding. The NIH's Environmental Health Sciences campus is in the park -- its only campus outside Washington.
"Any cuts to any HHS institution, including the NIH, is going to have a ripple effect. It's going to directly impact the federal workers at that institute, and then that will impact their research, which will unfortunately impact all Americans," said Brianna Clarke-Schwelm, Executive Director of the NC Global Health Alliance.
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In the wake of major funding cuts that have already affected RTP stalwarts such as RTI, Clarke-Schwelm says further cuts may not just mean the loss of research, but talent.
"I worry about the brain drain to North Carolina, that if we aren't paying these incredible researchers, they're going to leave. And when we go to the hospital, that world-renowned physician will no longer be there to care for our family," she said.
In the case of Lenovo, it's not clear how many employees at their Morrisville campus will be impacted, but NC State economist Mike Walden says it's possible that instability from tariffs and issues with Chinese trade could be a contributing factor.
"We have a lot going for us, and clearly here in the triangle. But these are different times. The federal government is pulling back, we have a trade war going on, a tariff war, if you will. So these are things that we need to watch," Walden said.
Walden said he doesn't believe the Lenovo layoffs are indicative of a larger issue at RTP -- or carry significant long-term economic implications -- but that the region may need to find new partners to invest amid the widespread federal cuts and impacts from tariffs.
"I am confident that we'll continue to see foreign businesses want to do business here in North Carolina and specifically here in RTP. But the composition who is actually doing that investment may very well change over the next five to 10 years," he said.
On Wednesday, Lenovo sent ABC11 this statement:
"Like all businesses, we regularly review our cost structure to align with external market dynamics and make workforce adjustments where necessary. We are currently making strategic reductions in some parts of our North America business and will continue to invest and focus on initiatives that accelerate the growth and the overall transformation of the company."