2,300 Lilly Workers, Many In Indiana, Take Buyouts Amid Downsizing

At Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, 2,300 employees will take buyouts as part of the company’s effort to save money by cutting at least 2,000 jobs in the U.S. by the end of the year.

It’s unclear whether layoffs are still in the works in the Hoosier state.

Lilly said in September it would aim to save $500 million by cutting 3,500 jobs out of its more than 41,000 worldwide, with at least 2,000 cut in the U.S.

More than 12,000 people work for Lilly in Indiana alone. A spokesman says the majority of the 2,300 workers who volunteered for buyouts are among them. They’ll get extra benefits to retire early.

The spokesman says the rest of this year’s planned job cuts will come through closures and consolidations at offices in Iowa, New Jersey, China and potentially elsewhere.

The downsizing is the largest at Lilly since 2009, when the company cut 5,500 jobs to save $1 billion in the midst of the recession.