Mass layoffs at Novo and BMS in New Jersey leave over 500 employees unemployed
In a series of cost-cutting measures, two leading pharmaceutical companies, Novo Nordisk and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), have announced significant layoffs affecting their workforces in New Jersey and other locations worldwide.
Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical company, will be reducing its global headcount by 9,000 people, including 263 employees at its Plainsboro location. The layoffs are intended to simplify the company's business and improve decision-making speed, with the first redundancies set to begin immediately. This downsizing is part of Novo Nordisk's plan to generate $1.25 billion in annualized savings through 2026.
Tristan Manalac, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, can be reached at tristan.manalac@our website or [email protected] on LinkedIn for further information.
BMS, on the other hand, aims to realize approximately $2 billion in annual cost savings by the end of 2027. The company has announced layoffs at several of its sites, including 282 employees at its site in Lawrence Township and 57 employees from its Redwood City, California site. In addition, BMS has announced a total of 320 layoffs from its Lawrenceville campus in February, followed by an additional 68 terminations in July.
The layoffs at BMS's site in Lawrence Township will occur in December 2025, February, and March of next year. The company also announced the closure of a cell therapy plant in Illinois. These cuts correspond to a significant portion of the workforce, with BMS aiming to deliver $1 billion of these savings by the end of this year.
These layoffs mark a significant blow to the New Jersey biotech sector, as both Novo Nordisk and BMS are major employers in the region. The job losses are not limited to New Jersey, however, as employees affected by the cost-cutting measures in other countries over the next two years include those in sales, administration, and some production roles.
BMS aimed to save an additional $1.5 billion in costs last year, partly through layoffs that resulted in 2,200 job losses worldwide. The company raised its savings goal by $2 billion in February, with layoffs expected to contribute to this effort.
These developments highlight the ongoing challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry, as companies strive to balance the need for cost-cutting with the need to maintain a strong workforce and continue to innovate.
