Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, is planning to downsize its development organization by about 14%. As a result, 440 roles will be eliminated in Switzerland over the next couple of years, while 240 roles will be cut in the US. The development division, which currently has a workforce of 12,500, is responsible for the supply of drugs to the market, quality assurance, drug regulations, and more.
The development division has 3,000 members working in Switzerland and 2,000 members based in the US. These layoffs are in addition to the previously announced restructuring exercise, which is expected to reduce the 78,000-strong workforce by about 8%.
In February 2022, Novartis India (NIL) entered into a sales and distribution agreement with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories for a select range of medicines, which resulted in certain roles becoming redundant or existing in surplus. As a result, the company announced its intention to let go of approximately 400 employees.
Novartis India, the Indian arm of the healthcare company, spent approximately Rs 75 crore on costs and ex-gratia compensation under the employee separation scheme (ESS). The company also offered affected employees outplacement services.
Overall, 680 people will be rendered jobless at Novartis’ offices in the US and Switzerland due to the restructuring exercise.
