The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Chemicals And Pharamceuticals Manufacture Of Basic Pharmaceutical Products And Pharmaceutical Preparations 21 - Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
6,100 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
2 March 2007
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
31 December 2007
Description
Bayer is a global company that operates in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer is represented around the world by 350 companies and it has 110,200 employees: 61,300 in Europe (44,100 in Germany alone), 18,000 in North America, 16,900 in Asia and 14,000 in Latin America and Africa. On 2 March 2007, Bayer Health Care division - which develops, manufactures and sells products for disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment - announced a reorganisation plan as a consequence of the merger with the Schering group, one of the main pharmaceutical companies in the world, acquired by Bayer in September 2006. The company stated that starting from 2009 it will seek to save 700 million Euro per year following synergies from the merger - the amount was raised to 800 million euro in June 2007. In order to achieve the synergy targets and to promote an effective integration of the activities of the former Schering group with the health care division of Bayer, the plan regards a huge reorganisation, the reduction of the number of locations and the reduction of structural and personnel overcapacity with the consequent loss of 6,100 jobs worldwide. In Europe 3,150 jobs will be cut (around 1,500 in Germany); around 1,000 jobs in USA; 750 jobs in Asia; and 1,200 jobs in Latin America and Canada. According to a June 2007 press release, the research and development division will be strongly affected by job cuts and 20 research projects will be terminated. The company also announced that the job cuts will be implemented in cooperation with the employee representatives in order to reduce the negative social effects of the reorganisation plan. For this reason discussions with trade unions have already started with the aim to define joint solutions.
Sources
20 June 2007: Financial Times Deutschland
2 March 2007: Il Diario del lavoro
Citation
Eurofound (2007), Bayer, Merger/Acquisition in World, factsheet number 65027, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/65027.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
