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Novartis to cut 1,400 jobs in Switzerland

Novartis facade
Novartis hopes a comprehensive restructuring will result in savings of at least $1 billion by 2024 © Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is laying off more than one in ten employees in Switzerland over the next three years – 1,400 of 11,600 jobs will go. It also plans to cut 8,000 of 108,000 jobs worldwide.

On Tuesday the Basel-based company informed its employees in detail about the wave of redundancies for the first time. All sites are affected.

Novartis confirmed corresponding reports by TA-Media newspapers in response to an enquiry from news agency AWP.

At the beginning of April Novartis announced a comprehensive restructuring, which it hopes will result in savings of at least $1 billion (CHF960 million) by 2024. The centrepiece is the merger of the previously separate divisions Innovative Pharmaceuticals and Cancer Drugs.

In addition to adapting its operational structure, Novartis is also simplifying its global functions in finance, human resources, legal and communications. This will eliminate positions across the company, according to a spokesperson.

“Novartis is making rapid progress in implementing these changes across the organisation and has already completed the appointment of most leadership teams at the global level,” he said.

The spokesperson added that the company was aware of the impact of these changes on employees and was ensuring that all consultation requirements were met, through representative bodies where appropriate.

In Switzerland, formal consultations with employee representatives at the non-management level and consultations with management in the affected areas were already underway, he said.

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