US pharmaceutical giant Merck announced plans to cut some 7,000 jobs by the end of 2008 and close or sell five of its 31 manufacturing plants.
The company said the restructuring would cost between 1.8 billion dollars and 2.2 billion dollars, but would lead to total savings of between 3.5 billion dollars and four billion dollars from 2006 through 2010. Merck employs some 63,000 people around the world.
- So much for biotech & pharmaceuticals being the Next Big Thing?