Number of employees as of
December 31, 2008
As of December 31, 2008, 32,800 people worked for Merck, 1,832 more than a year ago. Merck was represented in 59 countries by 178 companies. We manufacture our products at 54 sites in 25 countries. The increase in the number of employees related to all businesses. In Germany, the size of the workforce increased by 159 employees. However, in August around 130 sales representatives from Merck Pharma GmbH transferred to the German subsidiary of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo. Owing to the changed framework conditions for off-patent ethical drugs, we decided to continue this business without our own sales force activities. The members of the Primary Care sales force in Turkey and Ireland also transferred to Daiichi Sankyo.
Our workforce in Switzerland grew by 278 employees as a result of the expanded pharmaceutical business. The headcount increased by 316 in Latin America, by 123 in North America and by 1,179 in Asia. Special mention should be made of China, where the workforce grew by 553 employees. The expansion of the Merck Serono business played a significant role here. In several countries, we combined the Merck and Serono companies and eliminated positions. This related above all to the United Kingdom, where the headcount declined by 140. In Spain, we sold biManán®, a local brand of diet products, and also closed one research site. The number of employees declined by 83.
In terms of function, 22% of our employees work in production, 35% in marketing and sales, 14% in research and development, and 6.5% in logistics. The remaining employees work in areas such as Engineering, Environment, IT, Finance and Human Resources.