Pharma: Novartis announces job cuts in the development division

Novartis currently employs 10,400 people in Switzerland, 3,000 of whom work in the development department. KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE / GEORGIOS KEFALAS

The pharmaceutical company Novartis is facing job cuts. The development division will be affected, as the company announced on Tuesday.

In Switzerland, 400 to 440 “operational and process-orientated positions” in the company’s development division are likely to fall victim to the measures over the next two to three years. According to the statement, Novartis currently employs 10,400 people in Switzerland, 3,000 of whom work in the development division.

“In addition to the potential impact of up to 440 positions in Switzerland, we anticipate that up to 240 positions in the US could be affected,” Novartis said in a statement. The development department in the US currently has around 2000 jobs. In addition to Basel, the US will remain an important development location for Novartis.

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At the same time, Novartis has announced that it will create new development positions in Basel and elsewhere. “With this anticipated job reduction in Switzerland and the US and the parallel creation of positions in our established centres over the next two to three years, we expect a net reduction of 1% to 2% in the global development organisation, which currently has over 12,500 employees,” the statement continues.

Company transformation changes focus

According to Novartis, this reorganisation has become necessary as a result of the group’s transformation over the past few years. The spin-off of the generics division Sandoz last October was the final step in the transition to a focussed pharmaceutical group with five core therapeutic areas.

Against this background, Novartis has analysed its development organisation and is now planning the corresponding changes. The aim is to “optimise resources and ways of working in development in a sustainable global operating model to support priority programmes and core activities.”

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After the group cut 8,000 of its then total of 108,000 jobs worldwide just two years ago, the current round concerns the area responsible for tasks such as regulatory affairs and technical research and development. The research organisation (Biomedical Research) is not affected by the measures.

New jobs to be created

As Novartis emphasises, not only will jobs be cut, but new ones will also be created. In Basel alone, the Development department will therefore create up to 40 new positions in 2024 to support the acquisition of Chinook, the licence agreement with Argo Biopharma and the development of radioligand therapy as well as the capacities for x-RNA at Technical Research and Development.

After Switzerland had accounted for around 10% to 11% of the global workforce in recent years, the Swiss share is now over 13% since the Sandoz spin-off. “We expect the Swiss share of the global workforce to remain at just under 13% after the adjustments in Development.”

Consultations have begun

The group is aware of the impact of the planned changes on its employees and will ensure that it fulfils all requirements regarding consultation and implementation, Novartis added.

The social plan includes appropriate severance payments, job placement, support from a career centre, best placement and development activities, as well as other measures that may also take into account the circumstances of associates. The aim of these measures is to improve the internal and external employment opportunities of associates.

Adapted from German by DeepL/amva

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