NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — As part of a restructuring, Johnson & Johnson plans to eliminate up to 7% of its global workforce, or roughly 8,200 jobs.

The health care products giant, which has 117,000 employees worldwide, said Tuesday that it’s targeting job cuts in the range of 6% to 7% as it looks to sharpen operational efficiency and trim costs.

Overall, the company expects to achieve annualized, pretax cost savings of $800 million to $900 million next year and $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion in 2011, when its plan is fully implemented.

J&J said cost savings will be realized mainly by reducing layers of management, increasing individual spans of control, and simplifying business structures and processes across the company’s global operations.

With the savings, J&J said it will have additional resources to invest in new growth platforms, ensure the successful launch of its many new products and the continued growth of its core businesses, and provide flexibility to adjust to the evolving global environment.

"Today, we are announcing a series of actions and plans designed to ensure that our company remains well-positioned and appropriately structured for sustainable, long-term growth in the health care industry," chairman and chief executive officer William Weldon said in a statement.

The company said it expects to record an associated pretax restructuring charge in the range of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter that will be treated as a special item.