Novartis may cut 400 jobs in France

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis launched its global transformation plan in April 2022. Key: a new reorganization of its activities. The plan calls for the reduction of 8,000 jobs worldwide out of 108,000, or just over 7% of the workforce. In France, the project “could result in the loss of about 400 jobs,” Novartis said in a statement to its staff representative bodies this Wednesday.

In France, Novartis has just under 3,000 employees (2,900 according to the website). In particular, it has biologics plants in Juning (Haut-Rhin) and Ulis (Esson) that will not be affected. The project will concern the headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine) and a sales department with about 1,400 employees.

$52 billion turnover

The information and consultation procedure will focus on the implementation of an occupational health and safety plan with a voluntary period and support measures for relevant employees, adds the Basel-based laboratory. The implementation of this plan will be carried out “progressively” over several months until the beginning of 2024.

The reorganization “should allow Novartis France to respond to particularly strong economic pressure on the drug” and the loss of key product patents, the group says. In 2021, Novartis generated nearly $52 billion in revenue.