Johnson & Johnson to cut up to 7 percent of global work force
Filed under: Company News, Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said Tuesday it will trim layers of management, cut jobs, and set other restructuring moves in order to save up to $900 million next year.The New Brunswick, N.J., company said the job cuts will affect 6 to 7 percent of its global work force of roughly 118,700 workers, prompting a restructuring charge of up to $1.3 billion pretax in the fourth quarter. Still, the company confirmed adjusted profit guidance between $4.54 and $4.59 per share for 2009.
Johnson & Johnson says it will also simplify its business structure in order to achieve savings and projects that it will save between $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion annually after the restructuring is complete in 2011.
The company, the world's most diversified health-products maker, saw its revenue fall 5 percent in the third quarter as intensifying generic competition slashed sales of about a half-dozen of its prescription drugs.
"Johnson & Johnson has long adhered to a broad-based operating model and set of sound management principles that have driven our success," said Chairman and CEO William C. Weldon, in a statement, adding that the program should keep the company positioned for long-term growth in the health care industry.
"These types of changes are difficult under any circumstances, and will have a very personal impact on people who have been dedicated to the mission of Johnson & Johnson," he said. "We recognize their contributions to the achievements of our business, and are committed to treating them fairly and with respect throughout this process."
The company, the world's most diversified health-products maker, saw its revenue fall 5 percent in the third quarter as intensifying generic competition slashed sales of about a half-dozen of its prescription drugs.
"Johnson & Johnson has long adhered to a broad-based operating model and set of sound management principles that have driven our success," said Chairman and CEO William C. Weldon, in a statement, adding that the program should keep the company positioned for long-term growth in the health care industry.
"These types of changes are difficult under any circumstances, and will have a very personal impact on people who have been dedicated to the mission of Johnson & Johnson," he said. "We recognize their contributions to the achievements of our business, and are committed to treating them fairly and with respect throughout this process."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-03-2009 @ 8:49AM
fpeirce said...
Great - some more unemployed. Thank you Obama for rescuing our country and bringing us hope and change we can believe in!
Reply
11-03-2009 @ 9:18AM
dee said...
I spoke to a friend of mine who was employed by verizon in one of the top tier jobs. She was laid off several months ago. The entire top layer of higher paid people went too. Everyone of them on the street now with no job what so ever and little hope of ever getting one with the pay they were used to. These big companies know that so many people are on the street with no jobs. They can and are turning around hiring top level people for half the pay because people are so desperate they will take anything they can get. This is disgusting! Even though they are thankful for a job they can't make it on the new pay so they lose their cars and homes anyway. This is the kind of power these big corporations have. Imagine 118,000 people being laid off. This is just one corporation. Hope and change. I never believed in this man ever. I knew it was going to be a nightmare. YOU can't hire a man who has NO experience and hangs out with radicals. What was America hoping for?
11-03-2009 @ 11:25AM
OhPlease... said...
It took the Bush administration 8 years to screw up the economy and the entire USA. Why do you expect Obama to fix it in less than a year. Come on now, be realistic, it will take some time to get things back in order, remember Rome wasn't built in a day, our economy will get back on track just not yesterday like everyone wants. Give the guy a chance.
11-03-2009 @ 9:17AM
Keith said...
FACT: All world currencies were put into all of the world's economies through lending.
FACT: More money is owed back to the treasuries of the world than was loaned out.
FACT: There is no other way to put money into an economy than lending.
FACT: Even if you tap equity or sell an investment that doubled in value, the money you turn it into was loaned out to be in that economy.
FACT: Currency is a scam. A serpent eating it's own tail. You can't get more back than what you loan out.
This is why the banks aren't loaning. They know they'll never get the money back. Trust me, if a bank could make money by loaning it, they would. All the money is about to disappear.
FACT: We need to find a way to have a society with an economy that isn't based on lending.
But how do you put money into an economy without lending it? The welfare programs are paid with borrowed money. Everything the governments of the world do, if they don't cover it with taxes, is borrowed money. The income from taxes is with money that was loaned into the economy. May eternity bless us with the wisdom to overcome these problems. Soon...
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11-03-2009 @ 9:45AM
dee said...
We have been trained to spend spend spend. Our parents never did such things. They also weren't judged by their car, home or clothes they wore like we are. Their self esteems came from being honest, working hard and raising great children while staying married. That was success. That is how we judged people long ago. They were responsible. They lived in a house they could pay for easily. We had a lot less clothes but we never thought anything about it. We became so materialistic and judged ourselves by the designer clothes we wore. We forgot about being a decent person. We need to take 100 steps backward. Enjoy life with our families and stop this insanity. Save your money. Stop being so hard on yourselves. We are going through strange times and it is time we learned how to survive and enjoy the wonderful things life gives us. Good luck to everyone.
11-03-2009 @ 9:44AM
ronald krise said...
Sorry liberals, but Hussein Obama is going to be the final undoing of America. His non-policies will bankrupt an already shaky economy. I have my Armageddon kit in place:
1. A firearm w/100 bullets
2. Change of clothes for 7 days
3. Blanket
4. Freeze-dried food
5. Water
6. Shortwave radio w/batteries
7. Survival book re: herbs, roots, plants, etc.
8. Medical kit w/medical book
9. $5000 cash for get-away money.
10. Remote cabin in St. Mary's, PA. 3 acres w/wood and a stream.
Several of my cousins are also preparing for the collapse.
Sound crazy? Just wait till the total collapse on Wall St. when the nation panics beyond belief. Unlike the 30s, the youth of today, in particular inner-city ones, will not handle it well. They will go from ipods, iphones, palm-help devices, drugs, jewelry, etc. to violence such as this country has never seen. It's coming. I am prepared.
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11-03-2009 @ 9:49AM
NIKITA said...
OBAMA'S "BIG CHANGE" is: communism, marxism & socialism rolled into one package of government seizure of personal wealth. For those who fell prey to Obama's sonorous sophistry; you will be fighting with your neighbor over a left over potatoe. Take back our country, government and jobs; buy only American products, if any, and boycott wharehouse foreign merchandising like costco, walmart. Do not trust the media, nor the Pelosi "government ownership" socialism. Be ashamed to drive a Toyota because the $$$deal you made betrayed your country and washed away America's productivity and production.
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11-03-2009 @ 9:30PM
Leslie said...
Do you read labels? Many of the Johnson & Johnson products were being made in China and other countries. As a simple consumer, if I have a choice between and American made product and a foreign made product, I'll choose American. On top of that, many of the American made products were less costly than the Johnson & Johnson products made in China. I realized I was paying for the brand name not the quality of the product.
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11-03-2009 @ 11:36AM
07 Shelby said...
It is company tactics like this that makes things appear on paper that we are coming out of a recession but it is a paper tiger with no real truth behind it. Next year they will report that they made a profit of a billion dollars when in reality, they just fired a bunch of people! Is it me or do people still use soap and the other product this comapny makes? Even if you are unemployed, you are still going to wash yourself so there is no need for this company to do this except to hook up their execs. Just a reflection of what is happening on Wall Street. Like in the movie with the same name GREED IS GOOD! is the new mantra of the large corporate world. Maybe if we boycotted all the companies that are practicing this way of doing business it would stop but we as a country have short memories and lack the balls to do it as a society.
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11-03-2009 @ 12:00PM
Sally said...
Dee - exactly why are you blaming Obama for the policies of Johnson & Johnson? It would make no difference whatsoever who is in the White House. These same job losses would have occured your moran.
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11-03-2009 @ 12:07PM
randy said...
Isn't it wimpy looking Chairman of Johnson & Johnson the guy who has aired all the "green commercials" boasting about how they are creating jobs by using the bogus green energy being promoted by the ultra left wing loons? What happened? Did buying into the scam of green technology COST jobs instead?
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11-03-2009 @ 1:53PM
Claire said...
I believe that's the S.C. Johnson Company, best known for cleaning products, air fresheners, etc.
11-03-2009 @ 12:17PM
babyface said...
DON'T CUT JOBS HIRE MORE PEOPLE,MAKE SOME OTHER JUSTMENT TO OVERHEAD JOB ECONMY IS TERRIBLE DON'T ADD TO IT. BE A TRUE AMERICAN COMPANY. THIS WILL ENCOURAGE PEOPLE IN USA TO BY YOUR PRODUCTS, OTHERWISE WE WON'T BUY YOUR PRODUCTS. USA WORKERS SHOULD COME FIRST THEUR THE LIFE BLOOD OF ECONOMY.
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11-03-2009 @ 12:30PM
mrwarmth51 said...
911-03-2009 @ 12:00PM
Sally said...Dee - exactly why are you blaming Obama for the policies of Johnson & Johnson? It would make no difference whatsoever who is in the White House. These same job losses would have occured your moran.
That's spelled "moron"
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11-03-2009 @ 1:59PM
Linda said...
Maybe if Johnson & Johnson would really go green and make their products safer than maybe they would make more profit. I used a lotion they had for over 25 years and all of a sudden they changed the formula. New and Improved-- but I can't use it. Many people have problems with many of the untested chemicals that are in many of our products. Even baby shampoo has chemicals that are not safe. The average person does not know that companies make several sets of products the safer products for the EU Government and the more chemical laced products for the US. Our gov't is talking about chemical reform which I hope will change some of these problems. Hopefully, but these things take a long time. Linda
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11-03-2009 @ 2:29PM
LMK said...
Dee - why don't read the article fully? 118,700 aren't being laid off - that's their global workforce, of which 6-7% are being laid off. Still not appealing, but 118,000 aren't losing their job.
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11-03-2009 @ 4:53PM
Joe D said...
The devastation of New Orleans after Katrina was ultimately caused by arrogant administrators, incompetent public officials, negligent levee builders and short-sighted politicians with little or no regard for the safety of those they were suppose to protect. Following the storm, the problems were further compounded by the failed policies of a morally bankrupt Bush administration and their obvious distain for those less fortunate than themselves. Yet, in spite of this, many want to blame the storm while completely ignoring the catastrophic consequences caused by the failure of those who were suppose to protect the public whose trust they held.
Now, in a not to pleasent but frighteningly similiar metaphor, some want to blame President Obama for the current fiscal crisis when, in fact, it is the result of the Bush administration's complete and utter disregard for the general fiscal welfare of the American public. Like the embankments that gave way in New Orleans, the feeble and elitest policies of the Bush administration have failed to protect us when we needed them the most. America is being "flooded" with billions of dollars in bad debt and crippling unemployment for years to come. They have bankrupt the future of an entire generation and ruined the golden years of yet another.
President Obama did not create the fiscal crisis and certainly is not responsible for the failed policies that have resulted in the catastrophe that has followed. Try as he might, he now has to repair the damage done by the Bush "levee" builders.
Our President is a brave and bold chief executive who deserves our support, not the empty criticism of those who forget how we got here in the first place. If the fiscal "levee" of the Bush administration had been built on solid ground in the first place, we would not be having this debate. President Obama has to undo years of irresponsible and malicious policies and all the while enduring the "slings and arrows" of outrageous criticism, misguided....and misdirected as it is.
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11-04-2009 @ 9:00AM
Mike said...
No, Joe. The devastation resulting from Katrina was ULTIMATELY the fault of people who decided to build a city which sits below sea level.
11-03-2009 @ 5:29PM
teltech543 said...
118,000 people getting laid off but we are in the process of recovery. Guess someone should tell the people who actually buy stuff because the companies that are laying off people and going bankrupt sure don't know it.
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11-04-2009 @ 9:08AM
Mike said...
AGAIN, J&J is not laying off their entire workforce of 118,000+. They are laying off 6-7% of that workforce or around 7500 people. Still bad, but possibly they're just laying off people who cannot read for detail. . .
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