Merck to cut 7,200 jobs

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck said Wednesday it would trim its workforce by 7,200 positions by the end of 2011.

The 12 percent job reduction was part of a cost reduction plan aimed at saving $3.8 billion to $4.2 billion by the end of 2011, the company said.

Third quarter sales worldwide fell 2 percent to $5.9 billion, the company said. Its net income was $1.09 billion compared with $1.52 billion in the third quarter of 2007.

"Our focus remains on increasing revenue from our new and in-line products," Merck's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Clark said in a statement.

The reductions include a cut of 25 percent of mid-level and senior executive positions. About 40 percent of the total reductions -- including 6,800 filled positions and 400 vacancies the company will leave unfilled -- will take place in the United States, the company said.

Merck currently employs 56,700, having just completed a downsizing of 10,400 jobs that began in 2005.