CVS Health To Layoff 5,000 Employees: WSJ

(RTTNews) - CVS Health Corporation (CVS) is reportedly laying off 5,000 employees in order to reduce costs as the pharmacy giant plans to focus on its healthcare offerings.

The Wall Street Journal initially reported the job cuts on Tuesday, citing an internal announcement to employees. The news comes just a day before CVS reports its second-quarter results.

The pharmacy chain had about 300,000 employees in the U.S. at the end of last year, according to a securities filing.

According to CNBC, a spokesperson confirmed the layoffs and said it is not expected to affect "customer-facing colleagues in our stores, pharmacies, clinics, or customer services centers."

The employees laid off will receive severance pay and benefits, including access to outplacement services.

"As part of an enterprise initiative to reprioritize our investments around care delivery and technology, we must take difficult steps to reduce expenses," the spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. "This unfortunately includes the need to eliminate a number of non-customer facing positions across the company."