
Thousands of layoffs planned as part of Novartis restructuring — report
Novartis’ sweeping restructuring will reportedly lead to thousands of job cuts worldwide, including a “three-digit number” in its home of Switzerland.
Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger first reported the plans, citing unnamed sources. In response to a query from Endpoints News, a Novartis spokesperson said roles will “inevitably” be impacted but declined to discuss numbers.
The new organizational structure which we announced last week is central to our growth strategy as it will make us more agile and competitive, enhance patient and customer orientation, unlock significant potential in our R&D pipeline and drive value creation through operational efficiencies. These efficiencies will come through leaner structures and will inevitably lead to roles being impacted.
However, at this time it is too early to indicate any specific numbers. We expect the new structure to be fully in place and operational by end of 2022.
The comments echo a previous statement from Novartis. Layoffs were expected when CEO Vas Narasimhan announced a plan to chop more than $1 billion in costs by combining the pharmaceuticals and oncology businesses, melding three groups — corporate strategy, R&D portfolio strategy and business development — into one and finding ways to consolidate things better.
The pharma giant currently employs about 108,000 people around the globe. Three key execs are already headed out as part of the revamp: John Tsai, head of development and CMO; Susanne Schaffert, head of oncology; and Robert Weltevreden, who has run customer and technology solutions.