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Pfizer to Slash Sales Force by 20 Percent


Posted on 2006-11-29 10:08:00



Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will cut its U.S. sales force by 20 percent, or 2,200 people, as part of a cost-cutting program to transform the company into a more nimble organization as it struggles with sluggish sales.

The drug company has 11,000 sales representatives, and the cuts will be made by the end of the year, according to company spokesman Paul Fitzhenry. He couldn't say how much the cuts would save the company or if it would take any kind of an earnings charge because of the move.

In October, Pfizer said it would slash costs beyond the program announced last year, designed to cut $4 billion in expenses by 2008.

At the time, Chief Jeff Kindler said there would be no sacred cows in the reorganization. But Pfizer's sales force was always considered one of its greatest strengths, so some observers didn't think it would be on the chopping block.

Pfizer has lost patents on numerous drugs recently, including blockbuster antidepressant Zoloft. Other drugs, like blood pressure medicine Norvasc, are slated for generic competition in 2007. Pfizer said in October that sales would be flat for the next two years after previously predicting moderate growth.

With this background, some analysts insisted cutting the sales force makes sense.


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