The pharmaceutical group today revealed part of the 1.5 billion euro savings plan announced in November. Sanofi expects around 600 jobs to be shed over the next three years in France, with no layoffs. The company should also consider ending its vaccine joint venture with Merck.
The pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced today that “around 600 positions will be abolished in France over the next three years”. The company presented to personnel representatives on Tuesday morning the restructuring project in France, which is part of the strategic plan announced November 6, 2015 by general manager Olivier Brandicourt.
The project "should be accompanied by a voluntary resignation plan". It will be based "mainly" on retirement leave (early retirement) fully financed by Sanofi and "there will be no layoffs," says Philippe Luscan, vice president in charge of industrial affairs and head of Sanofi France. In addition, the plan "does not involve the closure of industrial plants and will have no impact on the workforce employed in research and development," said Sanofi management.
No facility closures
This plan is based on the new organization presented last July. The Italian company will henceforth be divided into five large global entities (GBU) corresponding to the five main areas: general medicine and emerging markets, medical specialties (Genzyme), diabetes and cardiovascular, vaccines (Sanofi Pasteur) and human health animals (Merial ).
This new organization, which "aims to improve the effectiveness of product launches, simplify the decision-making process and avoid duplication of structures" to cope with "increased competitive pressure worldwide", which also concerns France, which has 27,000 employees, a quarter of the group's employees. But “does not apply to Merial” (veterinary drugs) that Sanofi plans to sell to the German Boehringer Ingelheim in view of its large public health business
“In reading the agenda, we know that there will be job conservation plans in four entities': SWI (pharmaceutical manufacturing), SAF (commercial subsidiary), SAG (head office) and Pasteur (vaccines). A union representative said on Monday night that unlike three other entities, Sanofi Pasteur is escaping the threat of layoffs.
The agreement with the Merck vaccine debated
In the course of disposals and reorganization plans (medical, R&D…), Sanofi has removed several thousand jobs in France in recent years (5,000 since 2008 according to the CGT). Taking into account the acquisitions and hirings made in parallel by the Group, it appears that 1,300 jobs were lost in France between the end of 2008 and the end of 2014, according to annual reports.
Sanofi is also considering ending its vaccine joint venture with the company Mercka spokesman close to the group said. The joint venture, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, which distributes the vaccines in Europe, has seen its revenues (€330 million in the first half of 2015) decline. And it has an under-stocked product portfolio in development.
Par Armelle Bohineus – Published on 02/02/2016 – LE FIGARO.fr economy
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