Merck & Co. Inc. is planning to eliminate 500 positions
at its West Point facility in Upper Gwynedd.
The effective date of the layoffs is between Dec. 23 and
Jan. 5, 2014, according to a WARN notice the North Jersey pharmaceutical giant filed
with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
[The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
requires employers to provide states with notice 60 days in advance of plant
closings and large layoffs.]
Merck on Oct. 1 announced plans to cut 8,500 jobs as part of
a cost-cutting plan to reduce expenses by $2.5 billion by the end of 2015.
The company at that time declined to comment on how many
positions would come from the West Point plant. Merck (NYSE: MRK) has about
12,000 employees in Pennsylvania, most of whom are based in Upper Gwynedd.
The West Point facility is a research and manufacturing site
that serves as divisional headquarters for company's vaccines business and its
U.S. commercial operations.
Merck representatives were not immediately available Friday
to comment of the 500 positions the company plans to eliminate.
Layoffs are hardly a new trend among Big Pharma companies,
which for several years have seen their revenue growth stymied by the loss of
patent protection for key products, increased competition from generics, and
the absence of new “blockbuster” products to fuel income growth.
Three weeks ago, Teva Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: TEVA)— which is
based in Israel and has its North American headquarters in North Wales, Pa. —
said it was eliminating 5,000 jobs by the end of next year.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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