Report: Pfizer Cuts 2,500 Sales Jobs, Leading Black Friday Of Layoffs

Pfizer is cutting 2,500 of its 8,000 sales jobs, the drug giant said, leading a Black Friday roundup of layoffs today, as an economy in recession continues its contraction.

The Pfizer cuts come on the heels of the drugmaker's announcement earlier this week that it is letting go some 800 scientists as the company minimizes research areas such as cholesterol-fighting medications and emphasizes other areas, such as anti-pain and schizophrenia drugs.

Other job cuts elsewhere today include:

-- Houston energy titan ConocoPhillips which will cut 4 percent of its workforce of 33,600, citing rapidly dropping prices for oil and gas.

-- GE Capital, which has been hammered like other lenders in the credit crisis, began layoffs among its 75,000 employees today. GE Capital, which has tapped government funding and may need more, would not say how many people it is letting go.

-- California chipmaker AMD is laying off 1,100 workers, or 9 percent of its workforce, the company said today, its third round of layoffs this year. Even those who still have jobs take a hit: Pay cuts range from 20 percent for top brass down to 5 percent for hourly workers.

-- Indianapolis-based insurer WellPoint said today it will cut 1,500 jobs, or 3.5 percent of its staff.

This is the economy President-elect Obama inherits on Tuesday.