No Irish Job Cut Plans, Says Pfizer

PHARMACEUTICAL giant Pfizer said yesterday it has no immediate plans to axe jobs in Ireland as part of its global cost-cutting programme. The company, which employs 1,800 people in Ireland, is seeking to slash costs by €3.1 billion a year globally. Workers at the company’s Little Island and Inchera plants in Co Cork, which are in close proximity, will be briefed tomorrow about the company’s cost-saving plans. There is speculation that the Inchera plant could be targeted for job cuts between now and 2008, when the full effects of the cost-saving plan are expected to kick in. Pfizer’s New York-based spokesperson Bryan Haskins stressed that there are “no immediate plans” for any job losses here but added that Ireland would be impacted in the same way as the company’s global operations, which employ close to 115,000 people.