Biopharma layoffs must double in H2 for 2026 to match 2025 cuts

News Job Trends Biopharma layoffs must double in H2 for 2026 to match 2025 cuts July 23, 2026 | 4 min read | Angela Gabriel Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print With fewer biopharmas making or planning workforce reductions so far year over year, layoff round size and M&A impact on headcounts will likely shape the number of employees who are ultimately on the chopping block. While biopharma layoffs in the first half of 2026 affected just 2% fewer employees year over year, based on BioSpace tallies, that doesn’t mean that full-year cuts will match 2025’s workforce reductions of 43,242. The number of people impacted in H2 would have to surge 100% over H1’s sum, reaching 28,815.However, recent history shows that second-half increases aren’t a given. In 2024, layoffs fell 20% from H1 to H2. Based on first-half 2026 trends, when 58% fewer companies made or projected cuts year over year, what happens next could depend largely on two factors. The first is whether steep layoff rounds continue. The second is whether ramped-up mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity leads to job loss. To explore what H2 could look like, below is a comparison of recent large rounds of cuts and deal activity. Large H1 layoff rounds hit thousands from 2024-2026 One common thread running through 2024, 2025 and 2026 is that during the first six months of each year, the three deepest layoff rounds did the most damage in the second quarter. This year’s Q2 cuts affected the highest number of employees (6,360) and represented 68% of the staffers being let go in the first half of 2026. The three largest H1 layoff rounds from 2024 to 2026 break down as follows:In the first half of 2024, the cuts came from two companies. Bayer let go of 1,500 in Q1 and 1,700 in Q2 in connection with a restructuring. During the second quarter, Bristol Myers Squibb announced a headcount reduction of around 2,200 by the end of 2024 as part of a reorganization.During H1 2025, two companies were again behind the cuts. Bayer laid off 2,000 in the first quarter and 1,400 in the second, while Teva Pharmaceuticals announced in Q2 it would axe 2,893 by 2027.In the first half of 2026, the cuts came from three companies. As announced in Q1, Viatris will let go of up to 3,000 employees within the next three years. During Q2, BioNTech divulged it will lay off about 1,860 by the end of 2027, while Takeda disclosed it will axe roughly 4,500 in fiscal year 2026 as part of a restructuring.As to what happened during H2 2024 and 2025, there were large rounds of cuts then too. In 2024, those layoffs included Bayer letting go of 2,300 employees in the third quarter and 1,500 in the fourth. In addition, news broke in Q4 that year that Johnson & Johnson would axe as much as a fifth of its China workforce, which would be around 2,000 people. In 2025, the year’s deepest rounds of cuts hit in the third quarter. Merck projected it would let go of about 6,000 employees as part of a multiyear process, while Novo Nordisk disclosed it would lay off around 9,000.While steep rounds of workforce reductions could continue in H2 this year, it’s worth noting that Bayer, which let go of several thousand people in 2024 and again in 2025 as part of its restructuring, has not disclosed significant cuts this year. In November, CEO Bill Anderson said during an earnings call that moving forward, the pharma’s layoffs would just be “incremental attrition.” Several H1 cuts followed M&A activity, which jumped this year M&A activity preceded several biopharma cuts during the first half of 2026. At least five companies trimmed their workforces months or sometimes weeks after acquisitions closed, moves that will affect around 1,130 people. The cuts include two significant layoffs reported in early May.BioNTech noted in a quarterly report that it will let go of 820 employees at CureVac’s German and international sites by the end of 2027. BioNTech acquired CureVac in a $1.25 billion all-stock deal that closed in December.A week after closing its $7.8 billion acquisition of Arcellx, Gilead Sciences disclosed that it will let go of 192 employees at the biotech. The layoffs, effective this year and continuing into 2027, could wipe out 87% of the staff based on an SEC filing’s employee count of 220 on March 1.As to whether M&A will lead to job cuts during the rest of 2026, the potential is there based on strong biopharma mergers and acquisitions activity so far this year. During the first six months, there were 52 deals, up from 32 during the same period of 2025, according to BioSpace tallies. Of the 52 transactions, 31 (60%) took place in Q2, indicating the pace picked up in the second quarter. During 2025, there was a 50/50 split over the two halves of the year.There have been two announced biopharma M&A transactions so far this month. Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced it’s acquiring endocrine specialist Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $10 billion, and Eli Lilly is buying AtaiBeckley for up to $3.8 billion.During a recent BioSpace interview about the job market, Graig Suvannavejh, managing director and senior biotech and biopharma analyst at Mizuho Securities, discussed one reason for what he expects will be ongoing M&A deals. He noted that large pharmas typically address potential revenue gaps, such as those stemming from patent cliffs, by buying smaller companies. Pharmas facing loss of exclusivity that announced H1 deals include Merck, whose blockbuster drug Keytruda goes off patent in 2028. The company in May closed its acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals for $6.7 billion.Layoff numbers exclude contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms. To tally the cuts, BioSpace compiles data for known workforce reductions. The number of employees affected is identified or estimated through confirmation from company officials as well as information in company press releases, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, SEC filings and other media outlets’ reports.Not all companies disclose downsizing, and some share only the percentage of staff affected. Some biopharmas provide total numbers retrospectively rather than disclosing individual workforce reductions as they happen. Subscribe to Career Insider! Job market trends, layoffs and career advice to manage your life sciences career Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print Layoffs Mergers & acquisitions Bayer Bristol Myers Squibb Company Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Merck & Co. Novo Nordisk Gilead Sciences, Inc. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Eli Lilly and Company Angela Gabriel Angela Gabriel is content manager, life sciences careers, at BioSpace. She covers the biopharma job market, job trends and career advice, and produces client content. You can reach her at angela.gabriel@biospace.com and follow her on LinkedIn.