Express Scripts to Cut Jobs

When it comes to the name Express Scripts, you may not know them, unless you happen to buy a lot of prescriptions. For those of you who are not too familiar with the company here is a look at how the company has chosen to describe itself, “Express Scripts manages more than a billion prescriptions each year for tens of millions of people. On behalf of our clients, we make the use of prescription drugs safer and more affordable. We innovate to enhance patient care, reduce pharmacy-related waste and increase therapy adherence. Building on a strong clinical foundation, we apply our understanding of the behavioral sciences — an approach we call Consumerology® — to make it easier for people to choose better health.

Well, it looks like the company is hoping that they can do this without a number of workers. They are getting ready to cut back on 258 jobs in order to put itself back on the train to profitability. The company will be cutting the bulk of the jobs in Bergen County, New Jersey, as a cost savings measure, but that will be more then enough to qualify as a mass layoff action many times over. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the federal government defines the term, “The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.”

The company put out a statement about the job cuts in order to make itself profitable. Here is an excerpt from that press release that will get you up to speed in no time at all, “Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) and Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) (NASDAQ: WAG) today announced the companies have reached a multi-year pharmacy network agreement that includes rates and terms under which Walgreens will participate in the broadest Express Scripts retail pharmacy network available to new and existing clients. The companies are not disclosing the terms of the new contract. Walgreens will be part of the broadest network of pharmacies available to Express Scripts clients, as of September 15, 2012. Express Scripts will work to ensure a smooth transition for those plan sponsors who will want to include Walgreens pharmacies in their network.”

Then again this is not the only company that is looking to layoffs in order to cut off the loss of profits. Here is a look at cuts to a similar organization, “The odds are good that most of you reading this have not heard of MedImmune, unless that is you spend a lot of time working or reading about the field of biotechnology that is…. Well it looks like the company is getting ready to put 200 of its workers out of a job in order to make its bottom line better. The company put out a statement about the cuts outlining the location and timeline of the changes to their staffing… The company also mentioned, in the same release that more then just those workers who are being laid off will be impacted by the site closures and another 100 workers can expect changes…”