AN AXE hovers over staff at Alderley Park after AstraZeneca announced they are cutting a further 4,600 jobs worldwide.
More than 4,000 employees at the prestigious Alderley site are bracing themselves in the wake of the announcement that 700 of the jobs to go will be in the research and development division.
The commpany said the move was necessary to create cost savings of £440 million by 2010.
The pharmaceutical giant said it was unable to "say one way or the other" what lies in store for the 4,500-strong Alderley Park site and 2,500 staff in Hurdsfield, over the next three years.
While staff in Alderley are in the dark as to who will be affected by the cuts, chief executive David Brennan said the reductions were likely to include its UK operation.
The company said all redundancies were subject to consultation with staff, trade unions and employee representatives, which were still ongoing.
This is the second blow to hit staff this year and comes hard on the heels of an earlier cull.
In February, the multi-national said it would axe 3,000 positions in manufacturing and supply chain operations - including 700 at its Hurdsfield plant. This has now increased to 3,300.
The company, which provides a living for 65,000 people worldwide, has not provided locations for job losses but said its review had identified 1,800 positions in sales and marketing, 1,800 in information services and business support as well as 700 from research and development.
A company spokesman said: "We will not know which areas are affected by this for some time.
"Because this is a global figure, it will take a while to make decisions, so we cannot say one way or another how Alderley Park will be affected."
But Dapo Ajayi, head of UK operations, did attempt to reassure employees.
He added: "Whilst I appreciate that the recent global restructuring announcements may be unsettling to some of our employees, it is important to emphasise that last week's announcement provided a summary of the global picture, most of which has already been announced to the affected AstraZeneca sites around the world.
"We continue to do all we can to keep employees informed - in fact, this week we have started a series of employee briefings to update them on progress so far."
Outside AstraZeneca staff were coming to terms with the news.
Auditor Carol McNeil, said: "It's pretty hard to say what's going to happen really.
"It's unsettling to hear about."
Another worker who did not want to be named, said: "There is a feeling of uncertainty and worry, definitely. We don't know what will happen."
And a lab worker at the Hurdsfield site who helps make cancer drug Zoladex, commented: "It wouldn't surprise me if the whole site shut down in five years.
"Everything is expendable here.
"The work could be done in China, or India.
"Why pay people 12 quid an hour when you could pay them one dollar?"
Despite a 20 per cent increase in spending on research and development to $2.3 billion in the first half of 2007, as the company increased its search for promising new drugs to fill its pipeline, the company is under pressure to improve efficiency after a series of setbacks with drugs it has been developing.
