Sanofi Names D-Day for Layoffs: Dec. 1

(MoneyWatch) 

• UPDATE: Sanofi plans a similar layoff plan for Thanksgiving 2009.

Sanofi-Aventis has named a day for announcing its layoffs: Dec. 1, a source tells BNET. The Dec. 1 date already came up on Café Pharma as a possible timeframe for the call. The news gives Sanofi's sales reps Thanksgiving but not Christmas/Hannukah to enjoy their jobs. Here's the post on Café Pharma:

RSD's just recieved their list from the consultant company last week. They are spending this week and next to make any changes or adjustments before making announcements around Dec 1st.

On that day, managers will call their reps -- that's about 7,000 phone calls -- BNET's source says.

Now the only remaining speculation is, how many will lose their jobs? Given the scale of layoffs at other major pharma companies, there's a good chance this one will come in around the 1500 mark.

The layoffs had been expected ever since CEO Chris Veihbacher took control of the company earlier this year. The company's dawdling over the final decision has already pummeled morale among Sanofi reps. Many of them just want it to be over, one way or another.

Image by Flickr user Chris Campbell, CC