Hiring in the India’s pharmaceutical sector grew an estimated 24 per cent in the current financial year, according to executive search firm Spectrum Talent Management. It added that job creation may continue in the near future.
“In the last few years, pharmaceutical organisations have expanded by entering new divisions. A lot of firms have also expanded their operations overseas and a lot of mergers and acquisitions have taken place, leading to a lot of hiring,” said Sidharth Agarwal, MD, Spectrum Talent.
Consumer awareness of more medical facilities and massive healthcare investments have helped the sector to grow at a very fast pace. “Exports of pharmaceuticals products from India have increased from $6.23 billion to $8.7 billion in last five years, at an annual growth rate of 21 per cent, which has in turn resulted in consistent hiring as well,” Agarwal said.
According to Spectrum, the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which is expected to be in the top 10 global markets in terms of value by 2020, recorded a compounded annual growth rate of over 15 per cent over the past five years.
Other research firms like HR services firm Randstand, estimate the industry’s hiring growth at about 12-14 per cent in the current fiscal, with much of the demand concentrated in cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
“Even though the Indian pharma sector has always been an active recruiter, we have seen increased hiring happening over the last 2 years,” said Moorthy K Uppaluri, CEO, Randstad India & Sri Lanka adding that currently there was a lot of demand for junior and mid-level professionals in product development, inventory management, sales and marketing functions.
Similarly, Athena Executive Search & Consulting noted that most major healthcare firms have robust growth and expansion plans. “Increased focus of multi-national companies on emerging markets including India is adding to this growth but the domestic players are focusing more on international markets like Africa,” said Deepshikha Singh, senior consultant and vertical expert, Athena.
Randstad’s Moorthy also said companies were increasingly seeking senior-level professionals such as pharmaceutical scientists, radiologists and clinical research associates, owing to heavy investment in collaborative research for drug discoveries.