Call it the proverbial one-two punch. On Jan. 31, Pfizer expects to chop 400 jobs from Monmouth Junction, NJ, where Wyeth maintained research offices. And on Feb. 9, Merck will eliminate 500 jobs attached to Kenilworth, NJ, where Schering-Plough had its headquarters, although it’s not clear which types of jobs will be affected [UPDATE: We hear Schering-Plough Sales Reps are among those targeted and may already be alerted].
The info comes from the New Jersey Department of Labor web site, where companies are required to filed WARN notices, which is a sort of heads up when they plan to close a plant or eliminate a certain number of jobs.
The cuts are hardly surprising, though. Merck long ago announced some 16,000 jobs would go as it digested Schering-Plough and looks to eliminate $6.5 billion in expenses. At a Goldman Sachs conference yesterday, Merck ceo Dick Clark told investors research centers and manufacturing facilities are being eyed, and contract sales organizations may replace some sales reps (see The Pink Sheet for more coverage*). And Pfizer, which hopes to save as much as $12 billion after buying Wyeth, signaled plans to axe about 20,000 positions.
Just the same, the job losses underscore the blow to the nation’s medicine chest, the nickname New Jersey has long used to boast about the large number of big drugmakers with big operations headquartered in its borders - until recently.
[* full disclosure - Ed Silverman is an editor at The Pink Sheet]
