Last year, Merck disclosed plans to save up to $3.5 billion by closing numerous research sites and manufacturing plants, and eliminate roughly 15,000 jobs by 2012, or roughly 10 percent of the total headcount that included the thousands of people who were part of the 2009 acquisition of Schering-Plough. Before the deal, Merck employed about 53,000 people (read this). By March, Merck managed to get the the headcount down to roughly 93,000 (see here), which means another 8,000 or so jobs must still go. And sources say the layoff process is expected to accelerate shortly - most likely in early August - as the drugmaker continues its restructuring plan and looks for additional ways to save money.
