Novo Nordisk has cut production-line jobs at one of its major manufacturing sites in the USA as part of a broader global restructuring effort.

The layoffs, revealed through employee posts on LinkedIn and confirmed by internal sources, are among the first wave of a planned reduction of 9,000 jobs worldwide. The affected roles include positions in quality control, production-line operations, project coordination, and human resources at Novo’s Clayton, North Carolina plant and nearby facilities.

Although relatively modest in scale, the cuts indicate that Novo Nordisk is streamlining its front-line manufacturing operations in the USA—its most critical market for the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy. The company is aiming to sharpen efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain its competitive edge against Eli Lilly, its closest rival in the obesity drug market.

The Clayton site is a key facility for producing semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, and also handles filling, finishing, and packaging activities. It is expected to play a pivotal role in future production of Novo’s once-daily pill version of Wegovy.

These job reductions follow earlier cuts in Novo’s U.S. obesity education division and come amid similar restructuring moves in Denmark. Under the leadership of CEO Mike Doustdar, the company has initiated a global cost-optimisation programme to improve productivity and long-term growth.

A Novo Nordisk spokesperson declined to provide specific details about the latest layoffs, noting only that “this process takes time and our highest priority is to support our employees.”