Eli Lilly - Top 10 Layoffs of 2009

Company: Eli Lilly
Layoffs: 5,500 

Scoop: Eli Lilly announced in September that it was going to cut roughly 13.5 percent of its workforce as part of an effort to restructure the company into five business units--oncology, diabetes, emerging markets, established markets and animal health. The move would cut costs by $1 billion by the end of 2011--the same year its blockbuster Zyprexa antipsychotic goes off patent. The patents Cymbalta and GemZar also are set to expire also in the near future.

On a happy note, the company won't have to lay off 700 employees at its Tippecanoe plant in Lafayette, IN. German chemical company Evonik Industries agreed to acquire the facility and announced its intention to offer jobs to current staff at the plant, which makes APIs and specialty chemicals. A Lilly spokeswoman confirmed that the 700 employees offered jobs at Evonik will contribute toward Lilly's goal of reducing its workforce by 5,500 by end of 2011.