Merck plans jobs cuts in Ireland
pharmafile | September 10, 2010 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Ireland, Merck & Co, Schering-Plough, job cuts
A manufacturing plant in Ireland is the latest to face staff cuts in the wake of Merck & Co’s merger with Schering-Plough.
The Schering-Plough-operated plant in Brinny, west Cork, will shed around 160 workers over the next three years from its current total of 519, according to local news reports, but will continue production.
Brinny focuses on the manufacturing of biologic drugs and one of its main products is Intron A (recombinant alfa interferon) for treating cancer and viral diseases.
The aim is to achieve most of the reductions through voluntary redundancies, according to the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), which represents the majority of the workers at the facility.
SIPTU representative Alan O’Leary said that the union would be seeking an “early engagement” with the company management to discuss the implications for the workforce of the job cuts.
A statement from the management of Schering-Plough said that the cost-reductions were necessary to secure the plant’s future within the global Merck manufacturing network.
Merck said earlier this year it intends to shut 16 facilities worldwide and cut more than 16,000 jobs in a bid to save around $3.5 billion a year from 2012.
This latest announcement is a real blow to Cork, according to the Irish Independent newspaper, which notes Schering-Plough is the third major pharmaceutical employer in the region linked to staff cuts in recent months.
Last May Pfizer said it would axe up to 785 jobs at its plants in Shanbally and Loughbeg, while in June GlaxoSmithKline was beset by rumours that hundreds of jobs would go across its Irish operations. Currabinny in Cork is the main production base for GSK in Ireland.
Phil Taylor
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