As 2010 comes to an end, and the year's layoff total tops 50,000, we're releasing our fourth annual layoffs list, highlighting the 10 largest job cut announcements by company. AstraZeneca takes the top spot this year, marking the third time in four years the drugmaker has made our layoffs list. And after two years on top, Pfizer has fallen to second place as it continues to integrate with Wyeth. As Big Pharma prepares for the patent cliff, many blamed their increasing job cuts on pharma's new focus: emerging markets. Some buffered the impending job losses with transfers and jobs created in new markets.
Sales jobs in particular were hit hard again this year, culminating in the recent report of Sanofi's cattle-call approach to informing sales reps of their status. Over half of this year's list are names that didn't appear last year: Roche, Bayer, Abbott, Takeda, Novartis and Genzyme.
To see more detailed accounts of all this year's announcements, both those in the list and those that didn't make the cut, click here, or continue on to start the report.