AstraZeneca announces massive job cuts
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will cut 8,000 jobs by 2014. There's no word on how many jobs will be affected at the company's U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.
While announcing a 26% increase in profits for the fourth quarter, the drug maker also announced its plans to restructure and eliminate jobs. AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan says the company expects revenue to fall later this year as some of it's products lose patent protection.
"We'll continue to reshape our business adapting our cost base to the realities of the marketplace today, and as you all know that is changing, these structures continue to impact on our people and in the communities in which we operate."
The latest round of 8,000 job cuts come after the company had already eliminated more than 12,000 jobs since launching a "cost-cutting" program in 2007. Some of those cuts were off-set by the addition of nearly 5,000 jobs in other areas.