Novartis to Cut Jobs in U.S., Switzerland; Add Jobs in Asia

In its third-quarter financial report released today, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG said it would cut some 2,000 jobs in Switzerland and the U.S., but add 700 jobs in China and India. The cuts were announced at the same time the company said it recorded gains in third quarter sales of 12 percent and operating income of 15 percent.

Despite the gains in sales and income, the company says it still needs to improve overall productivity. The cuts would involve about 2,000 positions, 1,100 in Switzerland and 900 in the U.S. The reductions would involve technical research and development, data management, clinical trial monitoring, drug safety and epidemiology, and drug regulatory affairs.

Novartis said it would close an over-the-counter drug plant in Nyon, Switzerland and a chemical operations plant in Basel, Switzerland, but did not give further details about the U.S. cuts. The company added it planned to shift an undisclosed number of research positions from Switzerland to the U.S.

Offsetting the cuts in Switzerland and the U.S., Novartis said it plans to add 700 new jobs in  “low cost and other countries”. Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez told Bloomberg News those new positions in trial monitoring and data management would be added in China and India.

The reductions are expected to save Novartis $200 million per year. The company plans to take a one-time charge of $300 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 to pay for the cuts.

Read more: Novartis to Close U.K. Plant, Consolidate R&D Sites

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