BMS Layoffs: 79 Employees in New Jersey Face Unemployment, 2,200 Job Cuts Planned by 2025!

Employees at Bristol-Myers Squibb continue to face tough challenges in their cost-cutting program. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN), the renowned pharmaceutical company announced that it will lay off 79 employees in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The company has confirmed the layoffs, which will begin on December 12 and run through May 30 next year.

While BMS did not specify which employees would be affected by the layoffs or specify which of the two Lawrenceville facilities the layoffs would take place at, the company's facilities in the area include its corporate headquarters along Route 206 and Princeton Pike, three miles away. It is home to BMS 'commercial and post-development teams.

BMS confirmed that the job cuts are part of its cost-saving plan, first announced in its first-quarter earnings report in April, which aims to reduce costs by $1.5 billion by the end of 2025. In announcing the plan, BMS said it expected to cut around 2,200 positions by 2024, which would reduce its total workforce by 6%.

In an email on Friday, a BMS spokesperson said the "majority" of the savings from the strategic productivity plan would be reinvested in innovation and driving growth. "As part of this initiative, the company will focus its resources on research and development projects that have the potential to deliver the greatest return on investment, prioritise investment in key growth brands and optimise operations across organisations," the spokesperson added.

In April, Chief Financial Officer David Elkins said about two-thirds of the savings would come from research and development spending. Chief Medical Officer Samit Hirawat, MD, added that BMS is wrapping up work on about a dozen clinical projects.

The new round of layoffs brings the company's total layoffs in Lawrenceville this year to 1,134, including a massive 863 layoffs disclosed in a warning filing in May. In March, the company also confirmed that it would lay off 252 employees from its SAN Diego-based subsidiary Mirati Therapeutics. BMS, which bought the cancer specialist for $4.8 billion in January, wasted little time after completing the layoffs.

The company is under pressure from the pending patent expiration of Pfizer's blood thinner Eliquis and PD-1 inhibitor Opdivo. In addition, Eliquis would make Medicare price adjustments under the Inflation Reduction Act that begins in 2026. As business challenges mounted, BMS embarked on a flurry of deals, completing three acquisitions with a combined value of $23 billion, including the acquisition of Mirati.

BMS is not the only big pharmaceutical company to restructure its operations this year. Pfizer has begun seeking $4 billion in savings by the end of the year. In May, the company unveiled another savings plan that will be implemented over several years. Novartis, Bayer, Takeda and Biogen have also embarked on savings campaigns, including job cuts.