German firm Bayer has plans to slash 12,000 jobs by the end of 2021. On Thursday, the chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant confirmed these inevitable consequences of the major restructuring following the takeover of Monsanto.
Bayer’s financial experts say that the cutting 12,000 jobs will enable to save 2.6 billion euros a year from 2022. According to Werner Baumann, Bayer CEO, the German firm planned to exit its animal health business, in order to concentrate resources on its core businesses of pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science. In other words, the pharmaceutical giant acknowledged that more lawsuits could come, but reiterated that Bayer would “defend ourselves with all means available.
The upcoming restructuring is the most logical way of Bayer’s management, taking into account that Bayer swallowed Monsanto with its herbicide Roundup’s lawsuits in June. Despite all this, Bayer and Monsanto’s deal became one of Germany’s biggest ever corporate takeovers at a cost of 63 billion euros.
Now, for Bayer, will be the hardest task to digest Monsanto and its crop science division that will be among the most complicated hit by job cuts, with 4,100 posts to go. In its official statement issued on Thursday, Bayer said the firm is expected to complete trimming its staff by the end of 2021.
“These changes are necessary and lay the foundation for Bayer to enhance its performance and agility. With these measures, we aim to take full advantage of the growth potential for our businesses,” said Werner Baumann, Bayer board chairman.
