The British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc, planning a fresh restructuring program, has announced that it will layoff more workers this year - though the company did not disclose the exact figures, the cuts are expected to affect thousands of employees.

The expanded cost reduction program of the world's second largest drug company is the most recent in a string of cutbacks in the industry. With the announced measure the company is targeting a yearly savings of 1.7 billion pounds by 2011, up from the earlier estimates of 0.7 billion pounds.

The announcement from the company, which has already laid-off thousand of workers globally, is a clear indication of the mounting pressures on big drug-makers, as cheap generics - for products like Lamictal for epilepsy and Wellbutrin for depression - have made inroads into their sales.

Though one alternative for a large manufacturer like Glaxo is to merge and strip out costs, along the lines of Pfizer, but Glaxo CEO Andrew Witty has refused to follow the market leader. Witty is eyeing small and medium-sized deals to mark the company's existence in promising markets and consumer health.

Surprisingly, Glaxo has refrained from giving any specific guidance on earnings for 2009. According to analyst Jeffrey Holford, of stockbroker Jefferies, the decision by Glaxo "appears to be a general policy. They are moving to a more opaque guidance perspective for the market, probably to give themselves some breathing room."