Posted on December 4, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

New Job Cuts at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis and Merck Forecasts Poor Earnings for 2009

The Pharmalot blog reported today that Bristol-Myers Squibb will be laying off 5% of its workforce (~ 34 employees) by year’s end at its manufacturing facility near Syracuse, NY. And, Sanofi-Aventis announced that it will be giving pink slips to about 10% of its sales force —about 650 reps—before the end of the year.

To make matters worse, Merck released its annual revenue projections for 2009 today which suggest that its earnings and revenue will not meet Wall Street expectations. Merck recently “cleaned house” and eliminated thousands of scientific and mid-management jobs. The list of pharmaceutical companies that have downsized in 2008 includes Merck, BMS, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Schering Plough, Boehringer Ingelheim, Wyeth and Sanofi-Aventis. I probably missed a few but who is counting?

Until next time….

Good Luck and Hold On to Your Job (if you can)

 

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Posted on December 1, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

Is Pharma Done With Its Cost Cutting and Downsizing Initiatives?

According to a recent report from the consulting firm Ernst and Young, cost cutting and downsizing are no longer the primary objectives for most pharmaceutical companies. Instead, they are mulling over the new challenges that universal health care may bring and how to better reach consumers in emerging markets. 

In a recent interview, Carolyn Buck Luce, one of the paper’s co-authors said “in our previous report, cost containment was one of the most important initiatives. In this report we found more of a balanced approach where optimizing cost was [just] one the many objectives. Only 40 percent of the executives said optimizing costs was their most important initiative, compared to a similar study in 2007 where 92 percent of those surveyed ranked cost reduction as their main initiative. In the latest survey, 66 percent of executives said the most important strategic initiative was reinvigorating the R&D pipeline, while 40 percent said expanding into new markets and restructuring their marketing and sales programs to become more customer-centric were their main areas of focus. “

One of the most telling quotes in the piece is: “There was an awful lot of focus on costs a year ago, when companies realized there was a lot of fat in their companies and a lot of opportunity to cut costs.” Does that mean that pharma really didn’t have to lay off tens of thousands of employees over the past year? It kind of makes you wonder doesn’t it? And, if you believe that pharma is truly finished with downsizing--would you be interested in a great deal on some land in Florida?

Until next time…

 

Good Luck and Try to Hang On to Your Job!!!!!!!!

 

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