After Firing 110 Workers in China, GlaxoSmithKline Turns to New Singapore HQ to Steer Asian Business
March 11, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
LONDON – Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline will establish a new headquarters in Singapore to steer its Asian operations, following the termination of 110 employees stemming from a 2013 bribing scandal in China that damaged the company’s reputation and bottom line.
Currently GlaxoSmithKline has more than 700 office-based employees in Singapore and expects an additional 100 roles to move into the country as the headquarters nears completion. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2016 and the office will be up and running in 2017.
All employees Singapore-based employees will move into the 30,000 square-foot site by the second half of 2017. The eight-story building will be able to hold 1,000 employees.
GlaxoSmithKline has had a presence in Singapore since 1972. Most Asian business for GlaxoSmithKline is currently handled from the company’s London office.
GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty told Reuters he believes the Asian market will continue to grow, although, he said it would be slower than in previous years.
In addition to increasing sales in Asia, Witty said the new Singapore office will “help the company attract and develop the best people to drive innovation and access across the region, ensuring appropriate patients and consumers are able to benefit from GSK medicines, vaccines and products.”
Singapore is an attractive location for many international business due to its lower tax structures, abundance of skilled workers and extended use of the English language.
“In our experience and my own personal experience, Singapore excels in fostering talent, supporting business growth and offers an excellent base to access Asia. This is why we are making a significant decision to further increase our presence in Singapore as we continue to modernize and advance GSK,.” Witty said in a press release.
While the new Singapore site is aimed at fostering growth throughout Asia, the company is still recovering from a bribery and ethics scandal dating back two years. GlaxoSmithKline was fined nearly $500 million by the Chinese government when it was revealed that some employees of the pharmaceutical company were bribing doctors with extravagant gifts to prescribe Glaxo medications to their patients. Additionally the company was also accused of violating China’s personal privacy laws through illegal videotaping.
The company never confirmed the official number of employees fired, but sources said about 110 of the company's 7,000 employees in China were dismissed for misconduct, according to China Topix. Company officials said they increased the monitoring of its expense claims and hired external investigators to look into its operations in China.
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