Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is cutting 4,800 jobs worldwide as part of restructuring plans.

The posts – equal to six per cent of the group’s workforce – will be axed between 2011 and 2012, Roche said in a statement on Wednesday. In other staff movements, 800 jobs will be transferred to other Roche sites and 700 posts will be outsourced.

The initiative is expected to result in annual cost savings of SFr2.4 billion ($2.41 billion). Roche says it will enable long-term investment in research and product development.

Basel-based Roche employs around 82,000 people around the world. Most of the planned job cuts will go in the sales and marketing and manufacturing area of the pharmaceuticals division. Of the cuts, 3,500 jobs will be made in the United States, 770 in Switzerland, 1,300 in the rest of Europe and 680 in other countries.

CEO Severin Schwan said the measures were needed to “ensure the sustained success of the company” in the face of increased price pressures and a more challenging market environment.

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