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news.AstraZeneca has said that it is to axe 3000 jobs, or about 4.6% of its workforce, to counteract declining sales due to increased competition from generic drug manufacturers.
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The decision comes after Pfizer recently reported plans to cut its workforce by 10%. The elimination of these jobs was implemented despite AstraZeneca reporting record fourth quarter profits with an increase of 17% from last year.
The cuts will be spread over the next three years, with the focus on factories, and several hundred sales jobs in the US also to be removed. In addition, the company will face charges of about $500 million. AstraZeneca said that the decision would also help it return $4 million to its shareholders.
AstraZeneca has said that its hypertension drug Toprol-XL is facing waning sales as a result of competition from generic copycats and this has resulted in the need for the cutbacks. AstraZeneca commented that the plan was to improve productivity and increase profits.