Johnson & Johnson unit cuts 200 Puerto Rico jobs

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A spokeswoman for McNeil Consumer Healthcare says the company is eliminating 200 jobs at a Puerto Rico plant that makes Tylenol.

Vice President for Communications Barbara Montresor says the cuts are part of an effort to modernize a plant that had been cited for deficiencies by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The layoffs amount to about 25 percent of the plant's workforce.

Montresor said Tuesday that the company is automating processes and taking other steps to improve technology at the Las Piedras plant, which produces Extra Strength Tylenol and regular Tylenol.

The Puerto Rico plant is one of three McNeil plants covered by a consent decree with the FDA announced in March 2011. McNeil is a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson.