The operation of Early Retirement Program (ERP) schemes following sales of business units has been frequenting as an issue in the pharmaceutical industry.

Although the spin-off and sales by multinational pharmaceutical companies aim at ‘separation of innovation and legacy, ‘this premise of ‘selecting and focusing’ on its strengths inevitably entails the negative situation of ‘layoffs.’

Also, the layoffs that occur from sales of businesses are different from general ERPs. Despite the notion of ERPs being a ‘voluntary retirement,’ ERPs that occurs during such situations are much less ‘voluntary.’ This is why such ERPs bring about labor-management conflict.

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