Schering-Plough - Top 5 layoffs of 2008

Company: Schering-Plough
Layoffs: 5,500

Summary: When a drug makes up 60 percent of your company's profits, any drop in those sales is serious business. The Vytorin safety problems caused Schering-Plough's bottom line to take a major hit, which is why the company decided to cut cut 10 percent of its jobs in April. Part of the 5,500 cuts were also due to acquiring and intergrating Organon BioSciences into the Schering fold. The company said manufacturing plants will close and layers of middle and senior management slashed. Sales and marketing staff will also take cuts, as will R&D. The move will cut costs by $1.5 billion by 2012.