Employees at global pharma giant Pfizer allege it is cutting its work force in India by insisting they take a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). The said scheme appears to cover its field force, as well as managerial staff. The company has offered the VRS to at least 270-300 workers so far, sources said. According to them, this is notable as it comes within days of another pharma major, Novartis, losing its patent case for its anti-cancer drug, Glivec, in the Supreme Court. On April 1, the Supreme Court had denied the patent claim of Novartis. Sources added Pfizer has asked selected field staff and managers to resign, offering them basic payment of a few months as compensation. A Pfizer spokesperson declined to give a direct response on the downsizing and did not confirm the numbers.
