IMS Health to axe 850 jobs across the globe

US— Healthcare information provider IMS Health is to cut 850 jobs globally over the next 12-15 months, with 170 set to go in the US, according to CEO David Carlucci.

The number of positions at risk represents just over 10% of the company’s 7,500 worldwide employees. The action comes in response to a second-quarter decline in revenue that was worse than expected.

Carlucci said: “While we planned for lower growth coming into 2009, the accelerating healthcare market dynamics compounded by an economic downturn have caused our customers to significantly rein in their spending.”

He told investors of a number of engagements where “we have had agreements to move forward, only to then be shut down” by people at higher levels within the client organisation.

Carlucci said: “We are taking decisive actions to lower our cost structure and better position the business for a return to growth.”

IMS plans to generate annual savings of up to $85m by 2011 through the restructuring, which involves “all areas of the business and regions”, Carlucci said.

The majority of actions will take place in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), including a “right-sizing” of the regional headquarters function in London and a reduction and consolidation of operating units.

More generally, the company said it will “leverage foundational investments in process improvements” to reduce costs and improve productivity in its sales, finance, HR, customer delivery and customer development organisations.

Sales and management consulting teams will be reduced in areas of lower demand, but IMS said it would continue to build and invest in “high-value, strategic growth areas” – including speciality and patient-centred insights, in serving payers and governments, and in emerging pharma markets where growth is in the double digits.

Overall, second-quarter revenue was down 13% (or 7% on a constant dollar basis) to $522.8m, while net income was down 19% to $63.7m. First-half revenue fared little better, down 11% ( 6% constant dollar) to $1.05bn, but net income was up 42% to $198.2m.

IMS last restructured in 2008, axeing 10% of its workforce to save $60m annually.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments

Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts