INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – About 2,300 Eli Lilly employees have agreed to take a buyout as the pharmaceutical giant works to reduce its workforce.
The affected workers all applied for and were accepted into a voluntary early retirement program.
Still, that number is a couple of hundred employees short of the Indianapolis-based company’s goal of cutting 2,500 U.S. jobs by the end of the year.
In September, Lilly announced that it hopes to reduce its workforce by 3,500 positions worldwide to save approximately $500 million in 2018. At the time, the company said the move would help it reduce fixed costs and invest more in the “next generation of medicines.”
Some are questioning whether the drugmaker will turn to layoffs to reach its target.