Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Sanofi Plans Job Cuts in France

[I didn’t think this was possible—well, maybe it isn’t.]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122287438653094395.html

›By DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS and JEANNE WHALEN
OCTOBER 2, 2008

A group of French unions said they expect French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA to announce Thursday that it will cut roughly 800 sales jobs in France, the unions said in a statement Wednesday.

Such a cut would represent about a third of Sanofi's sales force in France, Philippe Guerin-Petrement, a delegate with the Force Ouvriere union, said in an interview. Some of the drug-sales representatives plan to stage demonstrations Thursday in various French cities, he said. A Sanofi spokesman declined to comment. Like other big drug companies, Paris-based Sanofi has been cutting jobs for several years amid tough times in the drug industry.

In February, Sanofi said it had cut the size of its global sales force by 5% over the previous two years, to 35,629 representatives. The company said it cut 2,900 sales jobs in the U.S. and Europe during that period, with the U.S. sales force alone declining by about 18% to 7,800 people.‹