LONDON: GlaxoSmithKline will this week inform US staff of hundreds of job cuts in its biggest market as the drugmaker starts implementing a major cost-saving programme, sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Britain’s top drugmaker announced at third-quarter results on October 22 that the new restructuring scheme would save £1bn ($1.56bn) in annual costs over three years, but it has yet to tell employees where the axe will fall.
Staff in the United States, where GSK has been struggling with falling sales of respiratory drugs, will be briefed on the changes on Wednesday by the company’s head of North American pharmaceuticals Deirdre Connelly, the sources said.
A GSK spokesman declined to go into details but said the aim of the restructuring programme was to improve performance by reducing complexity and establishing a smaller, more focused and lower-cost organisation.
“Each business unit is currently deciding how to respond to this challenge. When we do have proposals, we will first share those with our employees,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
Reuters
