Why Strategic Workforce Planning Is the Need of the Hour for Pharma Operations?

According to InvestIndia, the pharmaceutical industry is presently valued at around $50 billion and is expected to touch a valuation of $130 billion by 2030. Therefore, growth opportunities are plenty for pharma manufacturers. 

What holds the key is to ensure they are adequately resourced- both in terms of capital and talent. In this blog, we’ll understand why strategic workforce planning is vital for pharma companies and how they can use it to their advantage while preparing talent management policies.

Strategic workforce planning is a concept that emphasizes that talent acquisition teams identify the talent needs required to achieve the company’s long-term growth goals and objectives, and accordingly plan the workforce to ensure uninterrupted growth. Such workforce planning is done with an eye on the future, and is not merely about filling job vacancies.

In the pharmaceutical industry, where every facet of operations is intertwined with research, development, production, and stringent regulations, a well-executed strategic workforce planning can make the difference between market leadership and lagging behind.

According to McKinsey, 50% of the activities in the current pharma manufacturing setup could be automated in the next ten years. Approximately 90,000 jobs may become redundant and an equal number of new roles may open up. In this decade itself, pharma companies can expect an annual 27% rise in the percentage of roles affected due to modernization and technological advancements. 

These numbers do not just indicate the dynamic times that face pharma operations in the coming years, but also the scale at which job profiles will change in this sector. Combine this with the changes being brought in by Industry 4.0 principles and the rising need for IT roles in pharma-ops, and we have a rather challenging recruitment landscape staring pharma cos right in their faces.

Read: How a Global Drugs Manufacturer Achieved NIL Attrition and 95% Joining Ratio After Taggd’s Employer Branding Campaign

1. Consciously identifying talent gaps: Pharma operations rely heavily on specialized skills, from research scientists and regulatory experts to production staff and sales representatives. There is also the growing requirement for advanced IT skills like data analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation that are in peak demand to modernize the assembly line. The general hiring mindset is to fill vacancies for the short term. With a recruitment mindset focused on the long-term, companies can identify areas where they lack talent, and accordingly take measures to cement this gap– be it through training initiatives or hiring for new roles.
2. Talent retention and employee engagement: In a highly competitive industry like pharma, retaining top talent is paramount. Strategically planning the workforce helps pharma companies in identifying high potential employees and creating pathways for their growth within the organization. This fosters a culture of learning and development, boosting employee engagement and job satisfaction.
3. Achieving cost efficiency and resource optimization: When hiring for the future, there are less chances of redundancies as the potential of an employee is analyzed in the longer scheme of things– the ability to learn, adapt, and upskill. This helps companies in the pharmaceutical industry keep their operations streamlined and save a significant amount of resources that would otherwise be spent on onboarding and letting go of employees over short periods of time. 
4. Strengthening R&D: Success in the pharma industry depends heavily on the research and development capabilities of the organization. By brainstorming the critical skills needed to fulfill the future growth aspirations of a pharma company, a strategic workforce planning approach can help in assembling cross-functional teams with the right expertise for driving innovation and accelerating the development of new drugs. 
5. Spot areas for training: Analyzing future trends gives insights into which technology skills the current team is lacking. It helps shape training initiatives in terms of upskilling and reskilling, allowing the pharma industry to nurture existing talent. 

As India’s leading RPO and digital recruitment platform, Taggd has a vast network of recruiters who have closely worked in the pharma recruitment industry for several years now. The team has successfully executed high-impact hiring and workforce planning for several companies across India, including companies in the pharmaceutical industry.

Our team parallelly works with industry associations, government departments, and other knowledge partners to stay abreast with the latest trends and technologies that will shape the future of recruitment in the pharmaceutical industry, which helps us and our clients design recruitment solutions that truly give them a competitive edge.

Read: How Taggd Strengthened the Operational Footprint of a Pharmaceutical Major With 48% Diversity Hiring

In the field of pharmaceutical industry operations, where precision and agility are paramount, strategic workforce planning emerges as an indispensable tool for success. By aligning human capital with organizational objectives, strategic workforce planning empowers pharma companies to anticipate challenges, seize opportunities, and drive sustainable growth.

To know how we can help you, please contact us at contact@taggd.in!