One year after Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that it would cut its workforce by 10%, they’re doing it again. BMS unveiled plans to reduce its global headcount 10% by 2010.
A spokesperson for BMS told MM&M that the company could not comment on whether or not the layoffs would include sales force personnel.
The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that the initial number of layoffs would be around 800 employees. But BMS officials have disputed that figure. According the company’s website, BMS employs 41,000 people.
The BMS news comes in the wake of a rash of layoffs by big pharma companies in recent months including; Sanofi-Aventis, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline. Sanofi-Aventis announced in early December, plans to cut 10% or less of its 6,500 US sales reps.
In November, AstraZeneca revealed that it would cut an additional 1,400 jobs on top of previously announced 7,600 positions and GSK reported that it would reduce its sales personnel by 12% to 7,500, down from 8,500. GSK said that the company was planning on slashing 1,800 for a total of 1,000 workers.
