Boston Scientific (BSX -0.80%) is soon to thin the ranks of its workforce. In an SEC filing, it said it will cut 1,100 to 1,500 employees as part of a 2014 restructuring program approved by the board of directors. The cuts would be effected "through a combination of employee attrition and targeted headcount reductions."
Other measures that will be taken as part of the restructuring initiative are a rationalization of the company's manufacturing efforts, a streamlining of its organizational structure, and increases in productivity and resource utilization.
These measures will begin to be enacted in Q4 of this year. Boston Scientific expects them to be "substantially completed" by the end of 2015. The company anticipates that, when completed, the initiative will slice gross pre-tax operating expenses by $150 million to $200 million per year.
The company estimates that it will take total pre-tax charges of $175 million to $225 million for the program, $160 million to $210 million of which should be in the form of future cash outlays. It expects to book around $30 million in restructuring charges this Q4.
At the end of its most recently reported quarter, the company had around $530 million in cash and short-term investments.
