GlaxoSmithKline to let go around 1,000 employees in China, sources say

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK.LON, GSK.NYSE) China operations will lay off about 1,000 people this year, Caixin reported, citing six unnamed sourced. The company’s China-based arm did not confirm the plans when contacted by Caixin, however one of the sources said GSK would cut 450 employees in the first quarter, with a larger number to be let go in the second. The company faced a bribe scandal in 2013, with revenue slumping in China for the first three quarters of that year. GSK dismissed hundreds of China sales agents last year, according to local media reports, and other foreign drug firms have been trimming their numbers in China as well.