Johnson & Johnson cuts medical device division workforce by 4 to 6 percent

[January 19, 2016]  (Reuters) - Healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson said it would cut about 3,000 jobs within its medical devices division, or between 4 percent and 6 percent of the unit's global workforce, over the next two years.

The company said on Tuesday that it expected to record pre-tax restructuring charges of $2.0 billion to $2.4 billion in connection with these plans, of which about $600 million will be recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

J&J also reiterated its full-year 2015 forecast.

The company said the job cuts would affect the orthopaedics, surgery and cardiovascular businesses within the larger medical devices unit. Consumer medical devices, vision care and diabetes care, part of the same division, will not be affected.

The restructuring is expected to result in annualized pre-tax cost savings of $800 million to $1 billion, J&J said. Most of these savings are expected by the end of 2018, including about $200 million in 2016.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J currently employs about 60,000 within its medical devices unit, part of a global workforce of about 127,000.

The company's shares rose about 1 percent to $98.25 in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr and Robin Paxton)

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