Novartis plans further job cuts
Swiss drugmaker Novartis said yesterday it is slashing 2,000 jobs in Switzerland and the US to keep costs under control in the face of growing price pressures and the strong Swiss franc. The Basel-based group has already cut thousands of jobs and shut several sites, notably in Britain. The latest measures, which affect 1.7 per cent of Novartis’ global workforce and involve moving more commoditised business activities to less expensive countries, should allow the group to rake in annual savings of more than $200m (£125m).