AstraZeneca Continues To Cut Jobs
AstraZeneca has just announced that the company will cut more jobs. . This announcement comes as the company moves to close their Westcountry laboratory in Brixham in the UK. The laboratory will be donated to Plymouth University, but the current staff will be let go.
The drug industry heavyweight has come under difficult times as losses continue to mount. More affordable generic drugs have eaten into AstraZeneca’s bottom line, and the company has indicated that further losses could be coming. The company was already in the middle of a program tasked with cutting 5,000 jobs globally in order to save 675 million pounds. The new cuts would eliminate 550 more jobs worldwide. Before the company’s cost savings program was started nearly a year ago, there were almost 7,000 employees working in the UK alone.
AstraZeneca hopes that its cost savings program will be able to save enough cash in order to research and develop new drugs. If successful, AstraZeneca’s new drugs would help offset their current losses and restore financial stability to the company. In 2014, the company expects to see its sales numbers fall in the low to middle digits, while opposing companies such as GlaxoSmithKline are reporting strong growth figures. GlaxoSmithKline has relied heavily on research and development to boost sales amidst competition with cheaper generic drugs, and AstraZeneca hopes to do the same. The company already has doubled the amount of drugs it has in late-stage development in the past 12 months.
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