Merck Cuts 54 More Jobs at NJ Headquarters Amid Cost-Cutting Push
- Merck & Co. filed a WARN notice announcing plans to cut approximately 54 jobs at its Rahway, New Jersey headquarters, with the reductions taking effect in two phases on December 11, 2026 and January 4, 2027.
- The cuts add to a string of 2026 workforce reductions at the Rahway site, including an earlier round of roughly 88 positions eliminated in September, bringing New Jersey job losses this year to more than 140.
- The move is part of Merck's broader multiyear restructuring, launched in 2025, aimed at cutting roughly $3 billion in annual costs by the end of 2027.
- Merck has framed the cost-cutting as preparation for the eventual loss of patent exclusivity on Keytruda, its top-selling cancer immunotherapy, while continuing to invest in newer pipeline programs.
Fifty-four jobs at Rahway barely moves the needle against a $3 billion, ~6,000-role restructuring — but the drip-feed pattern is the real story. This is at least the second Rahway tranche in 2026 alone, part of a rolling cadence that keeps each WARN filing small enough to avoid a single damaging headline, even as the cumulative New Jersey total quietly tops 140 for the year. That looks like a deliberate IR strategy: stagger the pain, let every notice read as routine. Underneath sits the actual driver — Keytruda's 2028 patent cliff, the largest LOE event in oncology, pushing Merck to reshape its cost base years ahead of the revenue hit rather than scrambling once exclusivity lapses. Expect more of these incremental announcements through 2027.
Fierce Biotech Layoff Tracker 2026: Merck trims more NJ jobs ↗