Where The Jobs Aren’t: The Latest Layoff Tally
21 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // April 4th, 2008 // 5:22 pm
C is for contraction. C is also for convulsion. Both describe what pharma is experiencing these days. And the number of jobs being cut makes it all too clear. The trend - whether one calls it layoffs, restructuring, downsizing or reorganization - was under way a few years ago, of course, when Merck began eliminating thousands of jobs. But since early last year, the bloodletting has been particularly severe, which is only reinforced by the latest cuts by Wyeth and Schering-Plough. The list, by the way, includes both cuts recently made and those forthcoming.
Of course, C is also for collateral damage. This list doesn’t count all the layoffs in the supporting industries and vendors: advertising agencies, marketing companies, med-ed agencies, printing companies, mail houses, and venues for education and promotional meetings. As one reader reminded us last year - imagine the layoffs at companies that provided all the pens, coffee cups, clocks, notepads, baseball caps, tote bags, and backpacks that are given to docs. To quote that loyal reader: “This is not your father’s pharma industry, and never will be again.”
Have we forgotten anyone? Please tell us, because we will update:
1. Pfizer - 10,000 jobs
2. AstraZeneca - 7,600 jobs
3. Bayer - 6,100 jobs
4. Schering-Plough - 5,500 jobs
5. Wyeth - 5,000 jobs
6. Johnson & Johnson - 5,000 jobs
7. Bristol-Myers Squibb - 4,300 jobs
8. Novartis - 3,750 jobs
9. Amgen - 2,600 jobs
10. Glaxo - 1,650 jobs*
11. Nycomed - 1,250 jobs
12. Merck - 1,200 jobs
13. Sanofi-Aventis - 1,180 jobs
14. Reliant - 600 jobs
15. King - 520 jobs
16. Eli Lilly - 500 jobs
17. Sepracor - 300 jobs
18. Ligand Pharmaceuticals - 267 jobs
19. PDL BioPharma - 250 jobs
20. West Pharmaceutical - 250 jobs
21. Genentech - 240 jobs
22. Abbott - 200 jobs**
23. Bradley Pharmaceuticals - 196 jobs***
24. Alkermes - 150 jobs
25. Encysive Pharmaceuticals - 150 jobs
26. CV Therapeutics - 143 jobs
27. Neurocrine Biosciences - 130 jobs
28. Nektar Therapeutics - 110 jobs
29. NitroMed - 70 jobs
* Incomplete total, reflects US and Puerto Rico only
** Research only; doesn’t include sales reps following Kos acquisition
*** taken over by Nycomed
Alicia
Don’t forget Bradley Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Nycomed. About 175 people lost their jobs.
Sydney T
Eli Lilly has reduced headcount by over 5,000.
ol cranky
wyeth’s layoffs were to be announced two-part. the first part was commercial (listed above), the development layoffs are expected at the end of the month
Paul
A Look at Drug Industry Layoffs
Friday April 4, 6:05 pm ET
By The Associated Press
A Look at Recent Pharmaceutical Industry Layoffs
Major job cuts by pharmaceutical companies since January 2007, and when they were announced:
– Schering-Plough Corp., 5,500 jobs, 10 percent of staff (April 2)
– Wyeth, 5,000 jobs, or 10 percent, Jan. 25
– Novartis AG, more than 3,760 jobs, or 4 percent (Oct. 2007-Jan. 2008)
– Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., about 4,200, 10 percent (Dec. 2007)
– Bayer AG, 1,500 jobs, 1.5 percent (Nov. 2007)
– GlaxoSmithKline PLC, unspecified jobs (Oct. 2007)
– King Pharmaceuticals Inc., 560 jobs, or 20 percent (Oct. 2007)
– Johnson & Johnson, up to 4,800 jobs, or 4 percent (July 2007)
– AstraZeneca PLC, 7,600 jobs, 4 percent (July 2007)
– Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., 150 jobs, 70 percent (June 2007)
– Pfizer Inc., 10,000 jobs, or 10 percent (Jan. 2007)
– Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., 267 jobs, or 76 percent (Jan. 2007)
Prior major restructurings:
– Merck & Co., trimmed 7,200 jobs since December 2005.
– Eli Lilly & Co., trimmed more than 5,000 jobs, about 11 percent, since 2004 and continuing.
Feriel
Hello,
Sanofi Aventis (France) 417 jobs last week
Wylen 400 jobs
Feriel
Sorry,
Mylan for the last one not ((wylen))
Slim
Relaint lost 109 jobs at Corporate and another 500 or so nationwide as GSK only kept a limited amount of field sales
Ed Silverman
Thanks to everyone who is writing in with updated figures on layoffs. Although this is not a pleasant task, I am interested in keeping the tally accurate and current. So your dispatches are appreciated. I’m also trying to verify as much info as I can, so please be patient if the list isn’t updated immediately.
Regards
ed
Chris
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Chris
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals announced today its plan to reduce its workforce by approx 50% following which it will have approx 25 full and part-time employees.
Mark
Don’t leave out Roche which laid off a few hundred people when Mircera didn’t get launched at the end of last year.
John
~700 jobs were eliminated from ICOS Corp. after Lilly takeover in 2006/2007
~80 positions lost at Zymogenetics in February 2008
~31 positions lost at Cell Therapeutics Inc. in 2008
Daniel Morris
You missed the 1250 global losses when Nycomed bought ALTANA Pharma and integrated the 2 companies.
Gandalf
Subject: FW: Pfizer in the News
PFIZER TO CUT WORKFORCE 120 PERCENT
NEW YORK, N.Y. (AP.com) - Pfizer will reduce its workforce by an
unprecedented 120 percent by the end of 2008, believed to be the first
time a major corporation has laid off more employees than it actually
has.
Pfizer stock soared more than 12 points on the news.
The reduction decision, announced Wednesday, came after a year-long
internal review of cost-cutting procedures.The initial report concluded
the company would save $1.2 billion by eliminating 20 percent of its
108,000 employees.
From there, said a spokesperson, “it didn’t take a genius to figure out
that if we cut 40 percent of our workforce, we’d save $2.4 billion, and
if we cut 100 percent of our workforce, we’d save $6 billion. But then
we thought, why stop there? Let’s cut another 20 percent and save $7
billion.
“We believe in increasing shareholder value, and we believe that by
decreasing expenditures, we enhance our competitive cost position and
our bottom line,” he added.
Pfizer plans to achieve the 100 percent internal reduction through
layoffs, attrition and early retirement packages. To achieve the 20
percent in external reductions, the company plans to involuntarily
downsize 22,000 non-Pfizer employees who presently work for other
companies.
“We pretty much picked them out of a hat,”.
Among firms Pfizer has picked as “External Reduction Targets,” or ERTs,
are Quaker Oats, AMR Corporation, parent of American Airlines, Lockheed,
Boeing, and Charles Schwab & Co. Pfizer’s plan presents a “win-win” for
the company and ERTs, said Chris, as any savings by ERTs would be passed
on to Pfizer, while the ERTs themselves would benefit by the increase in
stock price that usually accompanies personnel cutback announcements.
“We’re also hoping that since, over the years, we’ve been really helpful
to a lot of companies, they’ll do this for us kind of as a favor,”.
Legally, pink slips sent out by Pfizer would have no standing at ERTs
unless those companies agreed. While executives at ERTs declined to
comment, employees at those companies said they were not inclined to
cooperate.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t work for Pfizer. They can’t fire me,” said
Kaili Blackburn, a flight attendant with American Airlines.
Reactions like that, replied the Pfizer spokesperson “are not very
sporting.”
Inspiration for Pfizer’s plan came from previous cutback initiatives,
said company officials. In January of 1998, for instance, the company
announced it would trim 18,000 jobs over two years. However, just a year
later, Pfizer said it had already reached its quota. “We were quite
surprised at the number of employees willing to leave Pfizer in such a
hurry, and we decided to build on that,”.
Analysts credited the short-term vision, noting that the announcement
had the desired effect of immediately increasing Pfizer’s share value.
However, the long-term ramifications could be detrimental, said Bear
Stearns analyst Beldon McInty.
“It’s a little early to tell, but by eliminating all its employees,
Pfizer may jeopardize its market position and could, at least
theoretically, cease to exist,” said McInty.
The spokesperson, however, urged patience: “To my knowledge, this hasn’t
been done before, so let’s just wait and see what happens.”
Linda
There will be more in the next 2 weeks when the buyout of CollaGenex by Galderma is final.
Farmanux News
[...] Since 2007, eight of the world’s biggest drug makers have announced the elimination of more th… [...]
Sam
Another one, Novo Nordisk discontinued a developing product and cut about 350 jobs at Hayward, California in January 2008 including mine.
Thanks,
Sam
Patrick
Eli Lilly reduces 500 manufacturing jobs and 70 research positions today 4-16-08
Richard
Nastech Pharmaceuticals Co. Inc. (Bothell, WA):
72 employees laid off November 2007
another 70 employees laid off February 2008
net, ~240 employees dropped to 85 in Q1 ‘08
Bill Richards
I think that Pharma has gone way off the deep end when it comes to ethics. Okay, stop laughing, I’m serious. Whether it’s GSK, Lilly, Abbott or any of the others, I’m tired of seeing hundreds of people lose their jobs for no reason. The pharma companies lay-off hundreds and then back fill the jobs within a few months with cheaper unexperienced college grads. It’s pathetic!
Mike
Means;
1. New refreshed controllable minds
2. Cultivable minds
3. New adaptable minds
4. Less salary rate
5. New Retirement Policies
6. New Insurance policies
7. New Job creation Incentives
8. New Movements of Sites at low cost
9. New Government Incentives and Industry Protection
10. New direction
11. New control over the economics aspects of the nations
12. New Pressure on Government
13. New Joint ventures, acquisitions, takeovers
14. New Pressure for FDA to include Quality in their Jobs
15, New approval Methods
16. New Economic World
17. New Challange for the Healtcare and Medicines sector…
and so on…
Pharma Market was originally owned by US. But it was sold…Now belongs to UK, China, Arab, India, etc. New Economic global market means a turn over at any price…Will US be the next “sub-market”?
All of this was started by the US Government, trying to control prices and quality, acting all over the Pharmaceuticals willing to enter or be in the US market…Now the wheel turns for new frontiers…new markets…new capable consumer…with less restrictions…this happens when you try to control the market, prices and the quality. But the Government as a founder and controller, is the first that has fail to comply with its own policies.
Do you Know that all Pharma Products sold in the US are approved by the US Government before they can enter to the market? This approval goes step by step in the development process, manufacturing, testing, quality conformation and attributes (efficacy, identity, strength….)Labeling, Packaging, Warehousing, Distribution, etc… Why the US Government had approved such products that has caused the injuries and dead to the patients? There it is always a trade off, but it must be well analyzed…And now they turn against who manufacture and sale it? But are not they equally responsible for this dead? Are not they equally responsible for the process, inspections and reviews? Why is so different the approval process? Why Pharma Industries lost their patents? Was it caused by the Government enforcement for low price high Quality Policy and Generic Market sponsorship?
After over 20 year in the Pharma Industry I was laid off in Dec 2007, with a ridiculous retirement plan approx. $285/Month and no health insurance, totally different of what was offered to me when hired!
There are a lot of draw backs! Lost of customer, employees, market and Government loyalty…
But who cares! The Pharma have to look forward for their moving cheese! If US Government wants the Jobs back, they will have to turn down the anti Pharmaceutical policies, revise the generics, increase incentives, Increase the foreign made polices, protecting patents, as they did with the car industry. US needs those Jobs, so it is time to start a fast track renewal policies to keep the industry in US and their territories, to continue our American Made Dream! The tactical game is not only military…it is economics too!
But more over they must learn a big lesson…they are also liable for what they do! They have to do it right the first time…with the same quality they require to the Pharma Industry…If the Product that is in the market is not right…then the Government and the Pharma, both are responsible…
Just see it! All companies that are reducing their Jobs, were inspected by the FDA as if they were new in the Market…They had major quality observations, warning letters, and consent decrees… The Government forgot that it was the Government that allow them be in the market for so long, without be properly supervised…it was the Goverment thta allowed the products to be in the market…So it is a big conspiracy! I recommend that you read the book “Pure Economics”….The Government trade off has been under estimated! Will they catch it up!