Merck Layoffs: From Rumor to Reality

I’ve been hearing for a little while about impending layoffs at Merck (MRK). I decided, though, that this isn’t the environment to be putting up posts about rumors of job cuts – everyone’s jumpy enough already. But unfortunately, they aren’t rumors anymore.

What I’m hearing about, in person and via e-mail, is what sounds like across the board R&D shrinkage. For what it’s worth, the damage seems heavier (on a percentage basis) at West Point and in Montreal, but I haven’t heard of any R&D area yet that’s completely missed out. More details are welcome from those closer to the sites affected.

You’d have to think that these cuts have been in the works for a while, but the Merck/Schering-Plough merger turned them into reality right now. Still, that’s a bit unusual – most of the time, with these mergers, the job cuts come from the new organization after the merger goes through. With one partner in the deal swinging the ax before that even happens, you wonder what’s going to go on once the two companies merge. Fewer cuts overall than people were estimating (or fewer on the Schering-Plough end? That would be a switch)? Or is this just a head-start on something that needed deeper cuts for it to make any financial sense at all?

Either way, if anyone out there knows of some organizations that are in a hiring mood, please feel free to post those details in the comments section. One thing’s for sure – anyone who is trying to fill positions these days will see some good candidates.

Comments

[ksmithdc:]

I have no lost love for pharmaceutical companies.

Mar 29 02:53 PM

[Top Gun:]

Sadly, the job of pharma is to put itself out of business by solving the problems of illness treatable with medication. Hopefully the highly qualified losing their jobs will be able to help make the world a better place doing something else.

Mar 29 03:25 PM

[mrwhippy2:]

In Merck's presentation to its employees they stated that the majority of Schering-Plough employees would remain. So the underling message is that the majority of Merck employees will not.

Besides it was already stated by Peter Kim that they were outsourcing research.

Mar 30 07:57 AM

[Investigator:]

Ya, send them all back to Germany. People are going to boycott merck after the vioxx and gardasil disaster. They can stop hurting
our children with their chemicals.Dump merck,save GM.

Mar 30 08:55 AM

[KML31708:]

The pharmaceutical companies are easy targets these days for our judgement, but we will all be sorry when R&D becomes nearly a thing of the past and we are stuck with nothing but OLD generic drugs. Can anyone argue that medical care is not better now than even just 20 years ago? I think not. Yet when you continually buy walmart's $4 statin, that is exactly what you are getting. The best we had 20 yrs ago. It's your life, do you want the best science we have right now, or what we had two decades ago when we were still thinking Vitamin E would prevent heart events?

Mar 30 09:25 PM

[HcB3:]

Back to Germany? Do a little more research.

Mar 31 11:15 AM

[Long US stockS:]

What are you talking ?


On Mar 30 08:55 AM User 377815 wrote:

> Ya, send them all back to Germany. People are going to boycott merck
> after the vioxx and gardasil disaster. They can stop hurting
> our children with their chemicals.Dump merck,save GM.

Mar 31 03:28 PM

[Long US stockS:]

Rahway 150 head counts from R&Ds. Mostly senior level Mgrs & directors. Told SGP's R&Ds -Cardio group stronger. Likley stay. SGP is also let some senior R&Ds guys go- more to come.


On Mar 30 07:57 AM mrwhippy2 wrote:

> In Merck's presentation to its employees they stated that the majority
> of Schering-Plough employees would remain. So the underling message
> is that the majority of Merck employees will not.
>
> Besides it was already stated by Peter Kim that they were outsourcing
> research.

Mar 31 03:36 PM