Pfizer to Eliminate 10,000 Jobs

As part of immediate initiative to drive improved performance, position Pfizer for future success and enhance total shareholder return its cost reduction initiatives, 10,000 positions (about 10 percent of Pfizer's total worldwide workforce) will be eliminated by the end of next year. This includes the U.S. sales organization reductions announced previously. In Europe, Pfizer will take steps to streamline its operations, with a proposed reduction to its European field force by more than 20 percent. Pfizer said it will do everything it can to offer support and benefits to all colleagues affected by these difficult actions, and said it was committed to working with community leaders to mitigate the impact of these closures in whatever way it can. "These are, of course, complex issues where we must balance many different considerations, and they are, without doubt, among the most difficult decisions we have to make," said Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey B. Kindler. "We have thought long and hard about these steps, because we are acutely aware of their impact on colleagues and the communities where we are located." In addition, Pfizer continues the consolidation of its worldwide manufacturing operations with the closure of two additional manufacturing sites -- Brooklyn, NY and Omaha, NE. In addition, the company will pursue the sale of a third site in Feucht, Germany, subject to consultation with works councils and local labor law. In Research and Development, the company is planning to close three research sites in the United States -- Ann Arbor, MI, Esperion (also in Ann Arbor) and Kalamazoo, MI (where the company will continue to maintain a large manufacturing and Animal Health presence) -- and is proposing to close research sites in Nagoya, Japan and Amboise, France, subject to consultation with works councils and local labor law.