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SUMMIT, N.J. — Merck plans to cut another 8,500 jobs as the drugmaker continues its struggle with competition from cheaper generic medications that have squeezed the pharmaceutical industry for several quarters now.
The company said the reductions it announced Tuesday are in addition to a total of 7,500 cuts it had previously announced but hasn’t carried out. That means it is slashing about 20 percent of its workforce, currently at about 81,000 people.
Merck said the restructuring will cost a total of $2.5 billion to $3 billion before taxes, mainly because of employee severance costs. But it expects the moves to help generate annual savings of about $2.5 billion by the end of 2015.
