More sad news on pharma's restructuring. One comment from an anonymous insider: "American Home Products has gone from a headcount of over 7,000 to about 750. This has to be a first." And, unfortunately, insiders believe that this is only the beginning. As MSN reports,
"Analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities says Wall Street is partly to blame. By unrealistically demanding the same double-digit profit growth the industry produced through the 1990s, big investors are forcing pharmaceutical companies to scuttle external research partnerships, then reduce head count and other expenses, Brozak said.
"You're seeing senior VPs ... eliminated at these companies," replaced by junior people with less savvy but half the salary, he said.
More from the article
"...When the traditional safe bet among the big pharmaceutical companies, giant Johnson & Johnson, starts the biggest restructuring in its 121-year history, it's clear things aren't rosy for the industry.
J&J's plan to cut up to 4,800 jobs follows news of tens of thousands of job cuts at Pfizer Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Astra Zeneca PLC, Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp.
Pfizer, the world's biggest drug company, is eliminating 10,000 jobs, 10 percent of its work force. Merck is shedding 7,000 jobs, AstraZeneca is slashing 7,600 positions, Schering-Plough has furloughed about 1,100 manufacturing workers and Bristol-Myers Squibb will cut an unspecified number of jobs by year's end.
For the full story (which was also published by Forbes and elsewhere), click here.
AMS
