Bayer has cut 1,500 roles – so far

In January, Bayer unveiled that a restructuring of the company's operations will take place, which will lead to a "significant" reduction in the number of employees, as Life Science Sweden previously reported.

Now the meaning of that wording becomes more clear. At a conference call with journalists on 14 May, CEO Bill Andersson said that roughly 1,500 positions have been cut during the first three months of the year, several media reports.

Two-thirds of these are said to be management positions, which is a result of the ambition to reduce hierarchies and remove unnecessary bureaucracy within the staff. At the end of the first quarter of the year, the company had just under 98,200 employees in total.

The company does not want to say how many additional positions will be lost. The restructuring plan is to be completed by the end of 2024 and will reportedly affect the company's operations worldwide.

The goal is to reduce costs by 500 million euros on an annual basis.