IMS Health to Cut Work Force by 10%

Global pharma research firm IMS Health has announced plans to cut staff numbers by 10% during 2008 in an effort to save money and improve efficiency.

As a result, the firm says it expects to record a pretax charge of $86m to $90m in the fourth quarter of 2007, and savings of $55m to $60m a year are anticipated from 2009.

'With these actions, we are positioning ourselves to reflect market realities and are adjusting our cost structure by aiming for greater simplicity, fewer management layers, faster decision making, and a sharper focus on addressing clients' new priorities,' said Chairman and CEO David Carlucci.

Other initiatives include strengthening account management and business development capabilities, streamlining consulting practice areas and consolidating some production operations. The firm also plans to step up quality and efficiency programmes by moving to common production platforms in several locations, and improving the productivity of its statistics and data management operations worldwide. Staff numbers will be reduced across support functions in the business, as well as in marketing, finance and administration.

More details on the restructuring will be provided in a conference call on 31 January, when the company reviews its fourth-quarter and full-year 2007 results. This morning, shares of IMS Health dropped $0.30 to $22.17 - the stock has ranged between $21.20 and $33.12 during the past year.

IMS currently has more than 7,600 employees and operations in 100 countries and is online at www.imshealth.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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