Bayer pharma announces closing operations in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Bayer Pakistan, a subsidiary of a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer AG, has halted operations in Pakistan.

The company has reportedly sold its assets to another business.

This marks the second departure of a foreign pharmaceutical company from Pakistan in recent times. Earlier, Eli Lilly, an American pharmaceutical giant, announced its exist from Pakistan in November 2022.

Meanwhile, employees of Bayer Pakistan are now seeking assurances of job security and separation packages in accordance with the company’s global policies. The workers are apprehensive about potential job losses under the new management and are pressing for safeguards to protect their livelihoods.

According to Bayer’s management, the company divested its assets to a local business that made commitments to provide existing employees with job security for at least two years.

Consequently, those employees who will continue to work for the company have not requested severance packages.

However, local staff members of the German multinational staged a protest outside the National Press Club, demanding compensation equivalent to 60 to 100 months’ worth of salaries, in line with the customary severance procedures followed by businesses worldwide.

During the demonstration, the affected workers appealed to the president, the prime minister, and the chief Justice, urging them to address their grievances and ensure that the company upholds their legal rights.

The employees urged them to intervene and enforce the company’s policies. They argued that while stringent labour laws were observed in Western countries when businesses terminate employees, but such protections were lacking in developing countries, where such actions may frequently be unlawful.