Struggling with competition from generic drug makers and forced to lay off 10,000 employees worldwide, about 100 employees at Pfizer Canada’s head offices in Kirkland will be getting the axe.

The world’s biggest pharmaceutical company announced earlier this month that 10,000 employees worldwide would be let go in sweeping layoffs due to competition from the generics. Pfizer has about 1,500 employees in Canada, with just over 600 at its Canadian head office in Kirkland and another 900 across the country, with the majority of those jobs being at its national distribution centre in Mississauga, Ont.

McCann said of those 10,000 layoffs, there was no initial breakdown of cuts in Canada — and the company’s announcement indicated possible closures of facilities in the United States, Japan, France and Germany. The American closures are research sites in New York, Michigan and Nebraska and in addition, Pfizer announced it would be laying off 20 per cent of its European sales force, with no mention of Canada. It’s the second time in as many years the maker of Viagra and Lipitor has announced a major cost-reduction plan to combat the loss of about $14 billion in revenues this year due to expiring patents and American health-insurance companies’ demand for lower drug costs.