Is India going to be global Pharma majors preferred destination ? Well it may be a exaggerated statement for now , but certainly the move by Novartis to shift many to its Hyderabad office does make some sense.
Novartis' 500 Swiss job cuts announced earlier this month are just the tip of a global iceberg. The company plans to cut or shuffle up to 4,000 jobs in its pharma business, with many of the positions moving to a new operations center in Hyderabad, India, a Swiss newspaper reports.
The news comes two weeks after CEO Joe Jimenez pronounced his dissatisfaction with the company's operating margins, and days after two back-to-back job-cutting announcements. And Novartis is in the midst of a worldwide strategic review. "I am not satisfied with operating margins," Jimenez said at an investor conference (as quoted by the NZZ am Sonntag). "We intend to increase these margins over time, and we begin now."
Soon after, the company announced its Swiss layoffs and rehires. The company plans to cut 500 jobs in Switzerland from R&D and administrative functions, while hiring another 500 or so Swiss workers for different positions in the pharma business, as well as generic drugs and over-the-counter products. According to the NZZ, half of the 500 jobs cut are moving to the Hyderabad service center. India is a lower-wage market, so maintaining the same number of jobs there would cost less.
At the time, Novartis took care to stress that its employment in Switzerland would remain about the same. It says the same about this latest news, only this time, it's speaking globally. Now, Novartis tells the NZZ that its overall worldwide workforce will remain "relatively stable" despite cuts and transfers in various geographic locations. The various layoffs and new hires are designed to help the pharma division "free up resources, prioritize and redistribute" as it prepares for new product launches.
The job moves are also part of a global reworking of its business-services and back-office functions. "Novartis began some time ago to incorporate appropriate back-office and other activities in Centers of Excellence and Global Business Solutions Centers," the company told the NZZ. "We continue the implementation of this plan. The number of internal positions which are now being resettled in Novartis service centers or from third parties will rise as a result."
The Hyderabad service center is taking shape in newly leased office space that can accommodate up to 8,000 employees. The Hyderabad site will open in late 2015, Novartis told the newspaper.
Labels: novartis pharma jobs, pharmacovigilance jobs
