Merck to Cut Up to 13,000 Jobs

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Merck & Co., the second-largest U.S. drugmaker, plans to eliminate an additional 12,000 to 13,000 jobs by 2015, expanding a restructuring program to save as much as $4.6 billion a year.

As much as 14 percent of the company’s 91,000 employees will lose their jobs, based on the size of the workforce at the end of last month. The Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based drugmaker also reported today that second-quarter earnings excluding one-time items were 95 cents a share, matching the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Merck is cutting costs, expanding in emerging markets and spending on research and development as the company tries to gain momentum before it loses patent exclusivity next year on its Singulair medicine for asthma. The company just introduced a new hepatitis C drug, Victrelis, and is testing an experimental treatment to raise good cholesterol in a 30,000-patient trial.

“They are focusing on costs,” said David Maris, an analyst at CLSA in New York, in a telephone interview. “That is exactly what they need to do under the new environment we operate under.” .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-29/merck-plans-to-eliminate-as-much-as-13-of-workforce-by-2015-to-cut-costs.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. "Costs" are all employees are anymore. Not people, not assets...liabilities.

Edit to add: to be dumped like a sack of dookey when a patent expires.

[bullwinkle428]

2. More "job creators" at work.

[Logical]

3. Well the drug company haters on the DU will think this is good news! n-t

[tammywammy]

6. That's exactly what I was thinking

Everyone that rails against "big pharma" but is suddenly upset when they become "smaller pharma".

This place cracks me up sometimes.

[musette_sf]

+ 1

[musette_sf]

9. dupe

[OhioChick]

4. Rec n/t

[tsuki]

5. Give 'em another tax cut so they can lay-off another 14%. nt

[daa]

7. Merck spokesman David Caouette said 35%

to 40% of the new work-force reductions will be in the U.S., while Merck will continue to hire new employees in "growth areas," including emerging markets such as China.

[IcyPeas]

8. check out the ceo's compensation:

http://people.forbes.com/profile/kenneth-c-frazier/52791

[Urban Prairie]

10. Your Bush tax-cuts at work!!

Three jeers...uh..I mean cheers for the global corporate capitalist elite, aka the rightwing-worshipping job "creators" extaordinaire!!

:applause: :applause: :applause: