Lilly boots up to 500 workers

Eli Lilly may be laying off as many as 500 workers in Indianapolis. Couldn't Mitch Daniels do something about this, given that he used to work there?

Under pressure to reduce costs, Eli Lilly and Co. said today it plans to cut up to 500 jobs in Indianapolis through a buyout program.

The cuts, which will take place in coming months, would bring Lilly's headcount in Central Indiana to about 12,000, down from more than 14,000 in 2004. It represents the largest single job-reduction action by Lilly in Indiana in recent years.

Most of the cuts, up to 430 jobs, would come in the company's manufacturing operations, at facilities that make the active pharmaceutical ingredients for insulin products Humalog and Humulin as well as for the osteoporisis medicine Forteo. The remainder of the cuts, up to another 70 jobs, would come from Lilly's research and development operations.

"For several years, we have focused on strategic efforts to lower costs, increase flexibility and improve productivity across the business," said John C. Lechleiter, Lilly's president and chief executive, in a statement. "This strategy calls for reducing investments in some areas while increasing investments in others, and the streamlining decisions announced today are an example of this."