There is no escape for the pharmaceutical Industry on the layoff spree that is occuring in USA and Europe for rest of the industries. The Industry was infleunced and were also proactive even before economic crisis due to reasons such as falling drug pipelines, increased generic competition, patent expires etc. Another significant reason for the layoff is restructuring of the companies. While 2008 witness a huge layoff, 2009 will also persist on the same.

The major layoff that happened in 2008 was from Wyeth, Astra Zeneca, Abbott, Merck, Scherin-Plough, UCB Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squib and Pfizer with a total of more than 28,000 job cuts. Most of the companies cut will be through 2010, as they are planning to streamline drug pipelines and focus on development of drugs.

The recent intended elimination plan was from Pfizer early in 2009, and the number was 20,000 employees which is a long term strategic move from Pfizer after the acquisition of Wyeth. Henceforth, the Industry is at bad times in the layoff standpoint. But this creates opportunities for vendors in this space.

The total number of SFA (Sales Force Automation) software users in USA has fall down from 100000 to 94000 over the last two to three years and this indicates that licensing of software has come down. This also signals restructuring of sales and marketing strategies from large companies. New concept of ‘Getting things done with few reps’ is gaining importance, and this delivers eminence to new IT solutions such as Closed Loop Marketing (CLM) to the top of priority for the pharmaceutical companies to invest. There has also been a strong focus on CLM from various vendors. Aligning solution offering to the needs of the Industry from time to time was always profitable for vendors despite any crisis. To change and to change for better is good.