Drug company, Novartis India, may slash 170 jobs as part of a bid to rationalise its workforce, amidst the uncertainties brought on by the pandemic.

Reports say that the drug-manufacturing company, is planning to lay off some employees from its workforce, as part of the ‘fit for future’ project.

Novartis India posted a net loss of Rs 71 lakh for the last quarter of 2020. In 2019, however, the Company had earned a net profit of Rs 7.73 crore in the same period. Revenue had also dropped to Rs 93.77 crore from Rs 117.46 crore for the same period in 2019.

The news of the job cuts comes as a surprise because the pharmaceutical industry is considered the most stable, given the uncertainties of the pandemic.

The proposed job cuts are to affect only the pharmaceutical division, but may be applied to the other divisions in the future.

The employees who will be impacted will be officially informed next month.

However, according to Scrip, Novartis claims that it has increased hiring across operations since January 2020. In fact, the outlook is bright for the Company, considering that its global services operations in Hyderabad, has taken on a considerable number of new hires.

It was reported that the CEO of the Company took a cut in his pay package. He was paid CHF 10.38 million in 2020, whereas in 2019, he was paid CHF 11.44 million.

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Source: https://www.hrkatha.com/news/global-hr-news/is-novartis-planning-layoffs-in-india/