The Sanofi logo on the walls of the company's headquarters in Paris.

-

Thibault Camus / AP / SIPA

Sanofi will well separate part of its workforce.

The French laboratory confirmed on Monday job cuts in its Research & Development (R & D) branch.

Several unions are calling on employees to strike this Tuesday in about twenty sites in France.

Olivier Bogillot, President France of Sanofi, however, recalled that "this corresponds to what was announced in June last year", after information from

France Inter

evoking 400 job cuts in this branch.

“There will be around 1,000 departures in France, over a three-year schedule, in different parts of the organization, including R & D. […] We made the announcements in June, and it took time to put in place all the strategic orientations ”.

"Voluntary departures", according to management

Sanofi announced in 2020 the elimination of 1,700 jobs in Europe, including a thousand in France, corresponding to the strategy implemented by the new boss, Paul Hudson.

"We have always indicated that it is a voluntary departure plan", added Olivier Bogillot.

Entry into negotiations is expected at the end of January, for first departures in the second part of 2021.

These job cuts are "not new", but their terms have "not yet been negotiated," said Aline Eysseric, CFDT member of the central social and economic committee (CSE) of Sanofi Aventis R & D (SARD).

In total, the group wants to cut "around 750 R & D positions in Europe, including 400 in France and 350 in Germany," she said.

This file could appear on the agenda, January 28, of the next CSE.

The CGT for its part denounced "fifteen years of successive savings plans" at Sanofi.

Result: "We lost the race for the vaccine against the Covid", after having pocketed "1.5 billion euros in various tax credits for ten years".

"We are going to lose more researchers", protested Jean-Louis Peyren, CGT coordinator at Sanofi, "without certainty" on the number of jobs in R & D which will still disappear but affirming that it is further job cuts.

End of diabetes research

Finally, according to Pascal Lopez, FO member of Sanofi, the project examined "on January 28" concerns "600 reductions of R & D positions, accompanied by 200 compensatory hires in the fields of digital and biotechnology".

This "net balance of 400 job cuts" comes "in addition" to those announced in June 2020.

Sanofi had indicated at the end of 2019 that it wanted to rationalize its spending, with a target of two billion euros in savings by 2022, in particular by stopping research in diabetes, one of its traditional core businesses, as well as in cardiovascular.

The group, which is working on the development of two vaccines against Covid-19, will also not be able to offer one before the end of 2021.

Society

Why has the population changed their minds about the vaccine?

Health

Government announces that Sanofi is considering producing vaccines for other laboratories

  • Video

  • Sanofi

  • Economy

  • Social plans

  • Pharmaceutical industry