Johnson & Johnson to cut about 3,000 jobs in medical devices

Johnson & Johnson said today that it plans to cut about 3,000 jobs over the next two years as the health care conglomerate works to restructure its medical devices business.

The New Brunswick, N.J., company said that amounts to more than 2 percent of its global workforce of about 127,000 people and 4 percent to 6 percent of its employee total in medical devices.

The cuts come after a tough year for the healthcare bellwether, which has seen sales of its prescription drugs, devices and consumer medicines squeezed by a weakening global economy and unfavorable currency exchange rates.

"These actions recognize the changing needs of the global medical device market," said Gary Pruden, chairman of Johnson & Johnson's medical device unit, in a statement.

The restructuring focuses on the company's orthopedics, surgery and cardiovascular businesses. It won't affect consumer medical devices, pharmaceuticals or consumer businesses.