Teva to cut 400 Czech jobs, shut plant

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries proves that the drug industry is an equal-opportunity job-cutter. It's not just the purveyors of branded meds like Merck, Schering-Plough, Wyeth, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, and Roche that are scaling back their payrolls, either in the wake of mergers or as part of companywide restructurings. Even the generics makers who pose a competitive threat to Big Pharma are having to rejig their operations these days.

The latest: Teva will shut down one of its Czech Republic factories by the end of this year, Reuters reports, shedding 400 jobs in the process. That's on top of the 315 jobs Teva is relocating from the higher-cost labor market of Ireland to a lower-cost plant in either eastern Europe or Israel.

Some of the 400 lost Czech jobs will return, once Teva has ploughed a planned $58 million into boosting production at its main plant in the country. That expansion will end up creating 300 new positions, the company says. Currently, Teva employs 1,700 in Czech Republic.

- see the Reuters news

Related Articles:
Teva to cut 315 in Irish plant wind-down
Teva sues over "staggering" auction-rate loss
Rumors: Teva sets its sights on Shire