French drugmaker Sanofi, recently said that it will cut up to 1,680 jobs in Europe in an attempt to cut costs and lift profits. According to a Reuters report, the company currently employs more than 100,000 people worldwide.
The downsizing is a part of a broader strategy put in place by company Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson in December. The company is aiming to target two billion euros in cost savings by 2022.
A Sanofi spokeswoman confirming the layoffs said that the cuts are mainly affecting blue-collar workers and would be carried out over three years.
Reuters first reported about Sanofi’s decision to cut hundreds of job cuts. The agency also said that the company would hold talks with staff representatives on Friday and on June 29.
According to the report citing the source, some 1,000 jobs would go in France, where it has about 25,000 staff.
None of Sanofi’s plants will close, a source familiar with its thinking said, but activity at some research centers will cease after it decided last year to end diabetes and cardiovascular research, two areas where it has lost ground.
A French Finance Ministry source told Reuters that the government will ensure that there are no sites closed and there are no forced lay-offs.
Sanofi has been bulking up in areas where it believes it can secure leading positions, including cancer drugs and last year said it would buy U.S. biotechnology firm Synthorx for about $2.5 billion.
Vaccines are also a priority for Sanofi which is working on two candidates to prevent COVID-19, one with GlaxoSmithKline and another with U.S. Translate Bio.
Sanofi said last week it would invest 610 million euros at two French sites to turn them into a hub dedicated to research, development and production of vaccines. Some 200 new jobs are expected to be created at one of the locations.
“Today’s news is hard to digest,” Thierry Bodin, an official with the CGT union said.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.