No. of employees decline sharply due to restructuring/reorgs

at multinational pharmaceutical companies

Over 200 jobs cut back in 4 companies – Sanofi, Roche, Lilly, and Zuellig

Underwent large-scale restructurings due to split-offs and business withdrawals

Main target were the sales division employees due to preference for online sales activities from COVID-19

The number of employees at multinational pharmaceutical companies has declined sharply due to their active restructuring and reorganizations.

 

Over 200 employees have been laid off in just 4 companies - Roche Korea, Lilly Korea, Sanofi-Aventis Korea, and Zuellig Pharma Korea.

 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the number of employees at Roche Korea, Lilly Korea, Sanofi-Aventis Korea, and Zuellig Pharma Korea was 1,109, which was a 16% decrease from the 1,326 of the previous year.

 

Approximately 80 employees left Sanofi-Aventis Korea last year.

 

The number of employees in the company had been 492 at the end of 2020 but was reduced to 413.

 

In the same period, the number of Zuellig Pharma Korea employees decreased by 58, from 293 to 235.

 

Roche Korea’s employees decreased by 52 from 309 to 257.

 

Lilly Korea’s employees decreased by 28 from 232 to 204.

 

The companies above have all actively carried out restructuring and reorganizations last year, influenced by the business model reorganizations conducted to remove or reduce non-core departments by the companies’ global headquarters.

 

Also, the sales department became the main target of restructuring due to the increasing preference for online-based, non-face-to-face sales activities due to COVID-19.

 

The number of employees at Sanofi-Aventis Korea decreased greatly following the split-off and merger of its consumer healthcare business with Opella Healthcare Korea.

 

Before the spilt-off, the company had also offered an early retirement program for its CHC and GenMed divisions.

 

The GenMed division is in charge of non-core prescription drugs of the company other than vaccines (Pasteur), and specialty care (Genzyme).

 

Zuellig Pharma Korea had reduced the number of employees while withdrawing its local pharmacy retail business.

 

The company had notified employees of its plans to dissolve the pharmacy retail business and large-scale restructuring in March last year.

 

The company had decided to undergo such measures due to continuous operating deficits brought on by the lower distribution fees and intensified market competition.

 

The company aimed to lay off about 80 people by eliminating direct sales and leaving only a small number of personnel in online sales services, Lilly Korea had downsized its offline sales services while increasing its online sales.

 

For this, the company had carried out a large-scale ERP since November 2020.

 

At the time, the company explained that its purpose was “The purpose of the reorganization is to increase the productivity and efficiency of the sales division and reinforce various multi-channels including digital programs.” The company had expected 25% of the 100-something employees in its sales division to opt for the ERP, and it is analyzed that a corresponding number of employees have voluntarily retired.

 

Roche Korea had also conducted two ERPs at the end of 2020 and in the previous year.

 

The main subject of the ERP was the sales department.

 

Although around 20% of the 60-70 workforce in sales were expected to opt for ERP, the number that left had exceeded expectations.

 

The number of employees at Roche Korea, which had exceeded 300, was reduced to 250 after ERP.