Merck Slated to cut Another 7,200 Jobs

The company has formed a “strategic partnership” with inVentiv Health, who does a lot of outsourcing for big Pharma, earlier this year, so perhaps some the sales and marketing slated for sales will be moving in this direction. Merck is not the only company investigating and pursuing this direction, and of course there is R and D move to India and China that all the big companies are pursuing due to cost. BD

Merck just finished cutting more than 10,000 jobs. Now the company says it’s about to cut another 7,200 positions, which is more than 10% of its remaining work force.

The cuts will affect 6,800 active employees (another 400 vacancies will be left unfilled). They’ll be spread throughout the company and around the world:

The number of senior and mid-level executives will be cut by 25%.
Forty percent of the cuts will be in the U.S.
By the end of next year, the company will close research sites in Japan, Italy and Seattle, and rely more heavily on research conducted outside the company.
“Non-core” manufacturing will be outsourced.
The company “will accelerate the rollout of a new, more customer-centric selling model.” That suggests more job cuts could be in store for sales reps.

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