Reductions in the Pharma Sales Force

According to a recent ZS Associates survey, the number of US sales reps has decreased 10% since 2007. We now have 92,000 pharma sales representatives and the prediction is that it will continue to drop to 75,000 by 2012. With all the recent news about mergers, I wonder how that will impact these numbers. Many doctors are unwilling to see sales reps, so pharma/biotech/medical device companies are looking for alternative ways to send their marketing messages. e-marketing has been one of these options that many companies have embraced.