Probably means that Human Resources is gonna get the axe as well, despite the training.
AKA pink slip distribution.
Richard W.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Pfizer Inc. is closing five research sites and shuffling some operations and employees in an effort to reorganize and cut costs after its $57 billion acquisition of Pharmacia.
More than 2,000 people work at the five sites that will be shut down over the next 18 months. Pfizer spokesman Andy McCormick said all will not necessarily lose their jobs, but conceded that some people will. He declined to give a number.
Pfizer has not said how many of Pharmacia's 43,000 employees will be terminated because of the merger, which was completed April 16. McCormick said the company is still deciding who will receive job offers.
``We have 3,000 jobs open worldwide. We haven't hired anyone in 10 months because of the acquisition,'' he said.
But since Pfizer expects to extract $2.5 billion in savings from the acquisition, analysts expect a vast number of former Pharmacia employees to find themselves unemployed. Numerous employees at Pharmacia sites in New Jersey have been given pink slips.
Peter Corr, Pfizer's head of research and development, said the changes will lead to some of those cost savings.
``A lot of that comes from efficiencies and procurement savings -- how we buy and what we buy,'' Corr said. ``We spend billions of dollars every year and we can leverage lower costs.''
He also said the company will save money by closing some small research centers that cost money in upkeep and operations. After the Pharmacia takeover, Pfizer had 25 sites worldwide.
``That's too many, so we had to made decisions about sites,'' Corr said.
More announcements will be coming about any changes to Pfizer's district offices, sales staff and manufacturing operations, Corr said.
Pfizer is closing three of its own sites -- one in France with 350 employees, one in Germany that employees 300 people and one in Ontario, Canada. Pfizer could not immediately say how many people were employed there. The company also is closing a Pharmacia plant in South San Francisco that employs 300 people and a complex in suburban Chicago with 1,300 employees.
Meanwhile, Pfizer said it will keep its research and development headquarters in Connecticut, where it employs about 6,000 people. It will move its veterinary and inflammatory disease research programs to Michigan, where Pharmacia had a large presence.
Pfizer also will lay off some workers in Connecticut involved in information technology, administration and public relations, but those cuts will be minor, said Pfizer spokesman Stephen Lederer.
In addition to housing the two programs previously based in Connecticut, Michigan will be the home of two other research centers, one for drug safety evaluation and the other for pharmaceutical sciences.
However, some other jobs will be transferred out of the state. Pharmacia employed about 10,000 people in Michigan, and Kalamazoo will now be Pfizer's largest manufacturing site.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm offered an incentive package worth nearly $635 million to Pfizer if the company retained and expanded Pharmacia's operations in the area. Most of the incentives were available only if Pfizer maintained a total of 8,500 jobs in Michigan, including 5,000 in research and development.
Shares in Pfizer rose 10 cents Tuesday to $30.80 each on the New York Stock Exchange.