GlaxoSmithKline - Top 10 Layoffs of 2009

Company: GlaxoSmithKline
Layoffs: 6,000

Scoop: Earlier this year it was reported that GSK would trim its 100,000-strong workforce by at least 6,000 jobs. The drugmaker declined to say exactly where those cuts would come from, but a spokesperson told the Times that the company had a disproportionately high number of employees in the U.K. The company's sales force was also likely to be on the chopping block, as a number of the drugmaker's top-selling drugs face generic competition. The layoffs are part of CEO Andrew Witty's ongoing efforts to reorganize and diversify GSK to prepare for tough years ahead. He wants GSK to rely less on blockbuster drugs and more on a broad range of smaller drugs, as well as growth in emerging markets.

Though the 6,000-job figure was reported by a number of news outlets, and GSK did confirm that it would be cutting a number of positions, to date the company has not revealed the actual layoff number. The company's expanded restructuring program is expected to deliver annual savings of £1.7 billion by 2011.