Topline Findings
- Novo Nordisk Layoffs: The company announced a global workforce reduction of 9,000 positions, including 5,000 in Denmark, as part of a strategic restructuring to focus on diabetes and obesity growth areas.
- Financial Impact: The restructuring is expected to generate $1.25 billion in annual savings by 2026 while incurring $1.26 billion in one-off costs, prompting a revision of 2025 operating profit growth to 4%–10% at constant exchange rates.
- Industry Context: Novo Nordisk’s layoffs reflect a broader pharmaceutical trend in 2025, with major companies including Bayer, Merck, Moderna, Pfizer, CSL, Fate Therapeutics, Generation Bio, Lundbeck, and ORIC Pharmaceuticals also reducing staff to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Novo Nordisk has announced a massive round of layoffs as part of a major restructuring effort aimed at simplifying its organization, accelerating decision-making, and redirecting resources to its core growth areas of diabetes and obesity.
The plan includes reducing about 9,000 positions globally—5,000 of which are in Denmark—out of its 78,400 employees. According to the company, the layoffs are intended to streamline operations, reduce complexity, and free up resources to reinvest in diabetes and obesity therapies, for which demand and competition are rapidly increasing.1
How will Novo Nordisk’s Restructuring Impact its Strategic Priorities?
“As the global leader in obesity and diabetes, Novo Nordisk delivers life-changing products for patients worldwide,” said Mike Doustdar, CEO, president, Novo Nordisk, in a press release. “But our markets are evolving, particularly in obesity, as it has become more competitive and consumer-driven.”
Financial Impact of the Restructuring
The layoffs are expected to generate approximately $1.25 billion in annual savings by 2026, which the company expects to reinvest in commercial execution, R&D, and manufacturing scale-up. Additionally, the restructuring is expected to bring an estimated $1.26 billion in net one-off costs, including impairments, with about $1.41 billion incurred in Q3 2025 and $157 million in offsetting savings in Q4.
As a result, the company has lowered its 2025 operating profit growth forecast at constant exchange rates to 4%–10%, down from 10%–16% previously. Despite the near-term hit, Novo Nordisk sees the layoffs as essential to positioning the company for sustainable long-term growth and innovation in its leading therapeutic areas.1
Market Pressures Behind the Layoffs
These job cuts were announced as competition becomes fiercer in the fast-growing obesity treatment market. Last month, Novo Nordisk announced that it was implementing a hiring freeze for all non-business-critical areas.
While the company didn’t offer a reason behind the hiring freeze, analysts noted that competition from Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and the company’s stock recently falling to a three-year low may have contributed. This represented one of the company’s largest single-day stock declines in decades.2
Industry-Wide Trend in Pharmaceutical Layoffs
The move adds to a growing wave of layoffs announced by major pharmaceutical companies in 2025.
- In August, Pfizer announced that it was planning to cut approximately 100 roles at its site in Bothell, Wash. The company stated that the cuts are part of an effort to improve R&D productivity and efficiency.
- Also in August, CSL announced plans to lay off 15% of its total workforce. The company stated that the cuts aim to simplify operations, reduce complexity, and improve efficiency across R&D, commercial, and corporate functions. CSL also stated that it would close 22 underperforming US-based plasma centers.
- Earlier in August, Fate Therapeutics, Generation Bio, and ORIC Pharmaceuticals all announced plans to reduce their workforce numbers.
- Fate Therapeutics stated that its layoffs were motivated by efforts to extend cashflow through 2027 and support its iPSC-derived CAR T-cell therapy programs.
- Generation Bio said that its layoffs were part of exploring potential mergers, acquisitions, or other transactions.
- ORIC Pharmaceuticals said its layoffs were aimed at prioritizing its two lead clinical cancer programs.
At the beginning of August, three other companies announced significant layoffs.
- Bayer eliminated 12,000 jobs under CEO Bill Anderson’s restructuring push, targeting $2.3 billion in savings by the following year.
- Merck announced it would reduce its headcount by 3,000 as part of a broader initiative to trim $3 billion in yearly costs by the end of 2027.
- Moderna cut 10% of its workforce, bringing its global staff to fewer than 5,000 employees by year’s end.4
Leadership Perspective
“Our company must evolve as well,” concluded Doustdar, in the press release. “This means instilling an increased performance-based culture, deploying our resources ever more effectively, and prioritizing investment where it will have the most impact—behind our leading therapy areas.”
References
- Novo Nordisk to streamline operations and reinvest for growth. GlobeNewswire. September 10, 2025. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/10/3147476/0/en/Novo-Nordisk-to-streamline-operations-and-reinvest-for-growth.html
- Novo Nordisk Implements Hiring Freeze for Non-Business Critical Roles: Report. PharmExec. August 20, 2025. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/novo-nordisk-hiring-freeze-business-critical-roles
- Pfizer to Lay Off 100 Employees from Former Seagen HQ Amid Cost Cuttings. PharmExec. August 27, 2025. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/pfizer-lay-off-100-employees-seagen
- CSL to Layoff 15% of Employees, Close 22 US-based Plasma Centers. PharmExec. August 19, 2025. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/csl-layoff-15-employees-close-22-us-plasma-centers
