German pharma giant Bayer rolls out restructuring plan
Executives at German agrichemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer will on Thursday present long-anticipated plans that involve extensive job losses.
Bayer announced on Wednesday evening that it would be introducing a new organizational model and examining all areas of the company for possible savings. Jobs will be eliminated, the company said, although it is not year clear how many positions or in what divisions.
Bayer management and labour representatives will answer questions from employees at the online event on Thursday afternoon
Current Bayer chief executive Bill Anderson took over leadership of the company last June, replacing long-time Bayer boss Werner Baumann, who was responsible for the company's takeover of US-based crop science competitor Monsanto.
Bayer currently employs 22,200 people in Germany and 101,000 worldwide.
Huge losses at Monsanto have badly hurt Bayer's financial performance, driven largely by huge legal costs associated with lawsuits over the health effects of Monsanto's glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup.
The outlook for Bayer's pharmaceuticals division is also gloomy due to expiring patents on two particularly profitable drugs.
Competitors will soon be able to sell cheaper generic versions of Bayer's blockbuster anticoagulant Xarelto and the eye preparation Eylea, which together have earned Bayer billions of dollars in profits.
