“The glory of medicine is that it is constantly moving forward, that there is always more to learn. The ills of today do not cloud the horizon of tomorrow, but act as a spur to greater effort.”

— William James Mayo

The pharmaceutical industry in India is marching towards becoming a global hub for medicines and pharmaceutical equipment. It has also made rapid strides in vaccine development, and the industry is witnessing work on a mission-mode basis to set up pharma manufacturing parks across India to expand the country’s pharmaceutical influence worldwide.

According to the Decoding Jobs India Report 2023, the Indian pharmaceutical industry market is set to grow from $49 billion to $130 billion by 2030. To broaden their growth prospects and be future-ready in today’s tech-driven environment, companies are keen to hire digitally-skilled talent to fuel their next growth phase.

Current Job Outlook In the Pharmaceutical Industry

According to Mr. K Kulbhushan, Global Head and Vice President at Dr. Reddy’s, “As the pharmaceutical industry continues to advance in 2023, we will see a growing demand for professionals with skills in chemical engineering, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, as well as project management.”

At present, there are a total of 2.5 million people employed in this sector. The pharmaceutical sector is creating a surge in demand for new roles and opening up several job opportunities. The industry is optimistic about growth, and according to the Decoding Jobs India Report, the expected hiring intention of pharmaceutical employers in 2023 is 16% more than it was in 2022.

Jobs Opportunities In the Pharmaceutical Industry

The industry has scope for multiple roles– be it in cybersecurity to maintain the secrecy of medicinal formulations, blockchain to build resilient delivery models, or robotics and AI to make smarter assembly lines, there’s ample scope and opportunity for professionals from diverse digital skills backgrounds.

Let’s take a look at some of the high-demand jobs in the pharmaceutical industry. 

• Tech-based Roles

 Pharmaceutical executives are looking to reduce their product development costs and time. To achieve this, companies require talent skilled in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and static/dynamic simulation software. As per a study by Pharmaceutical Technology, 70% of drug development is already done by leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

• Quality Assurance & Manufacturing Roles

Quality assurance is one of the core domains of the pharmaceutical industry and is responsible for developing and implementing quality standards for manufacturing drugs and medical equipment. There are several new job opportunities in this department for candidates from BPM (Business Process Management) and  Lean Six Sigma backgrounds who can develop efficient error prevention techniques, streamline inventory management, and improve the material flow.

• Project Management Roles

Project management is another key area of focus for companies, with a focus on ensuring effective collaboration among the teams. This has led to an increase in demand for professionals with knowledge in implementing the agile working methodology.

• R&D Roles

Research and development (R&D) is at the heart of every pharmaceutical company; hence, the need for research-oriented professionals is always high. The Indian Government is also playing a crucial role in promoting R&D by allocating USD 419.2 million towards research and development initiatives taken by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

This has led to job opportunities for scientific technicians who specialize in genomics, biochemistry, molecular biology, drug discovery, toxicology, and several other fields.

• Sales & Marketing Roles

Lastly, if we look at the non-technical side, companies are also looking for experienced sales and marketing professionals to gain a competitive advantage and build a strong relationship with their customers. This opens up doors for job seekers proficient in digital marketing, branding, social media management, and marketing strategy planning in this sector.

Mrs. Namrata Gill, HR Lead at Dr. Reddy’s, says that “The pharmaceutical sales market will require professionals who possess a strong understanding of marketing and product management to excel, as has also been stated in the Decoding Jobs India Report 2023.”

The Way Forward

The pharmaceutical industry is undergoing a digital shift, and there are several job opportunities available for professionals willing to upskill and reskill.

Besides technical skills, companies actively look for candidates with two main traits– strategic thinking and strong problem-solving. So, develop your skill set in these areas. Put in efforts to network with industry professionals and be active on social media to connect with the right people, and clinch the job opportunity of your choice.

Lastly, I would like to leave you with an inspirational quote from Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”

About the author

Pankaj Bansal is the Co- founder of Taggd and Work Universe (a Fund investing in jobs and work tech). He is a non-executive director at Karmayogi Bharat (Capacity building or Civil Servants) and many other startups. Follow him on Twitter at @pankajbansalPB.

By Dainik Bhaskar

The post Unlocking the Potential: Exploring High-Demand Jobs in the Growing Pharmaceutical Industry in India appeared first on .

Have you wondered what are the factors that influences a nation’s economic growth, or what determines the outcome of elections, and what ensures financial stability for every individual? The answer to all these questions is – jobs, or employment.

2022: A roller coaster for the job market

A retrospective look on 2022 tells us that it started on a positive note, with the first half of 2022 witnessing relatively strong hiring. However, Q2 FY22 onwards posted an altogether different story. Global recessionary fears and geopolitical conflicts dampened business sentiments across the world.

Recent months have seen a flurry of layoffs across the globe, especially in IT, sparking fear, uncertainty, and disruption for those affected. There is a palpable concern among employers and employees to know how the job market will shape up in 2023 amid these unprecedented times.

What can we expect in 2023?

As we enter 2023, even though the hiring sentiment seems a bit worn down, there is not a complete pause. The position of the Indian job market remains to be powerful, the population is young and growing, and is going to become the world’s largest labour force by 2027- indicating a large pool of potential employees to fill new roles and positions.

In the coming year, we expect a state of equilibrium – with growth continuing in pockets. We See That Many Segments Of Employers Will Be Optimistic About Their Hiring Activity In 2023 – With 45% Of Employers Surveyed Foreseeing Up To A 20% Increase In Hiring, As Per Decoding Jobs India 2023 Report By Taggd In Association With CII. While the global demand for Indian talent will start becoming visible around mid-2023, India’s job and employment landscape will be driven by domestic demand for talent. Domestic demand also spurred by rise in entrepreneurship, will be an important corner stone for employment. Let me share some positive hiring outlook and sectors in focus:

Pharmaceutical

With the new variant of covid and given India’s G20 Presidency, digital health innovation, achieving universal health coverage, delivery will take Center stage. This should give the employment generation a push in the next 6 to 8 months. Opportunities in medical research, healthcare administration, public health, nursing, and heavy focus on data science, API, AI/ML, R&D can be expected.

Manufacturing

Due to geopolitical reasons, Industry 4.0 and the “Make in India” initiative from the government, we are expecting manufacturing to grow in the next year and build domestic demand in the country. Organisations like Apple and Volvo are moving their innovation centres in India. As many as 50,000 direct jobs have been created in India since August last year, and this momentum is expected to continue.

Automotive

Amid increasing push towards environmental sustainability and Make In India, the auto sector’s job landscape will remain buoyant in 2023. Companies in Auto will look to hire people for product launches and green fuel technology. The top demands are for jobs like program managers, electronic and mechatronic engineers, expertise in fuel cells, system engineers, and AUTOSAR architecture.

Internet Business

Local e-commerce expects to grow on basis of domestic demand. Demand for delivery professionals, expertise in analytics, and performance marketing will drive employment in the sector in the coming year.

IT

Tech companies will be shifting their hiring focus on quality instead of quantity as we exit the market normalization phase. Given the over hiring done in the sector, hiring will not be as buoyant as it was in past, however, demand for niche talent like: DevOps, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Robotic Process Automation, AR/VR in Online Gaming skills, will continue to persist.

Future of jobs

Confucious said “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”, I would suggest- “Find love in the job you choose”. It’s essential for both individuals and organizations to stay flexible and adapt to changes in the job market.

As per India Skills Report 2023 by Wheebox, Taggd and CII, for the first time India reported a 50.3% employability score which means 50.03% of the test participants who were young were determined to be highly employable in total. Among the employable young population, 53.28% of women and 47.28% of men were deemed to be highly employable.

Successful job searching often involves a balance of both ‘science and art’, So, ask yourself:

1. Do you have the skills best suited to the roles for which you are applying?
2. If you have the right skills and knowledge, do you know it inside-out? If asked, can you speak on the subject for 2-3 minutes instantaneously and deeply?
3. How can you help your organization grow in the first 90 days of your job?

It’s important to approach the job search from the perspective of the hiring manager than only HR. If your answers to these questions are in the affirmative, rest assured, there are good jobs awaiting you. If not, start building up your skill stack, and gear up to be a part of India’s growth story!

About the author

Pankaj Bansal, is the Co-founder and Group CEO of PeopleStrong, Taggd and Wheebox. He is also a non-executive director at Karmayogi Bharat.

By Dainik Bhaskar

The post The Future of Jobs: Here’s What You Need to Know appeared first on .

Professionals are proactively looking out for new positions as their companies are taking the restructuring route, either through complete layoffs or conversion to a gig workforce. This has made the job of recruiting companies easier as compared to pre-lockdown times.

Sectors such as entertainment, hospitality, aviation, tourism, travel and retail, real estate, manufacturing and construction have been among the worst-hit due to the lockdown.

Statistics

Placement firm TeamLease Services has received 22,367 resumes in May from hospitality sectors alone, up a staggering 444 per cent from 4,109 in the previous month. Professionals who are proactively looking out have either been handed out pink slips or are facing job threats as their companies take the restructuring route, said executives aware of the matter. New Delhi: Lockdown-driven layoffs and fear of job loss have resulted in an increase of at least 30% in job-seekers’ resumes in the past 30-45 days, according to at least half a dozen recruitment firms ET spoke to.

Trends across Industries

Sectors such as entertainment, hospitality, aviation, tourism, travel and retail, real estate, manufacturing and construction have been among the worst-hit due to the lockdown. Workers from these sectors are therefore at the forefront of those seeking new job opportunities. Placement firm TeamLease Services has received 22,367 resumes in May from hospitality sectors alone, up a staggering 444% from 4,109 in the previous month. Professionals who are proactively looking out have either been handed out pink slips or are facing job threats as their companies take the restructuring route, said executives aware of the matter. Some said the worse might be over for the job market, with companies slowly getting back to work. “Most organisations are now moving towards non-employee cost reduction methods, and unless we see another wave of the pandemic, we may have very well crossed the jobs crisis,” said Lohit Bhatia, president-workforce management, Quess. Randstad India, another recruitment firm has also seen 25% jump in CVs over last 50 days, said its head, strategic account management, Sanjay Shetty.

Trends across Seniority Levels

Besides, some sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, global development centres, education, financial services and IT/ITES are hiring as they have not been impacted much by the lockdown. “As revenues of companies have declined sharply across sectors, albeit in varying degrees, several sectors are optimising their employee costs,” said Aditya Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services. Mostly junior and mid-level employees have been hit across functions such as sales, recruitment, supply chain, business analysis and after-sales service. TeamLease Services has received 34,786 resumes in May from delivery executives, as against 22,122 resumes received in April. At senior and leadership management the increase in resumes is more than 20% whereas at mid-level it is 30-35%, according to Sunil Goel, managing director, GlobalHunt, another recruitment firm.

Upcoming scenarios

This has made the job of recruitment firms simpler because before the pandemic, they had to headhunt and map the skillset from company to company. “Now more talent is directly approaching us,” said Goel. Before the pandemic salary expectations were 30-50% higher which has come down sharply to 15-25% due to fewer opportunities in the market, said executives. Instead of opting for layoffs as a way of cost cutting, some companies are choosing to convert their permanent employees to a gig workforce, with a lower fixed income and higher variable component, said Devashish Sharma, chief business officer, peoplestrong. Salary cuts across mid-management to senior management have been about 15-20%. “We do expect increase in loss of pay and furloughs in the coming days,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder, TeamLease Services. The number of inbound candidate enquiries and resumes received has grown 15-30% for different cadres of skillsets at Xpheno. “With some of the players like Ola reporting a 95% drop in revenues post lockdown, the overall projection of short-term retrenchment across startups and unicorns is 25-30% of workforce,” said Kamal Karanth, co-founder, Xpheno.

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The pharma industry continues to beat the Covid blues. Seventy percent of the hiring is in sales, followed by manufacturing and support roles

“Hiring by pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies has gone up by 7-8 per cent over the last 40 days and is likely to surge up to 25 per cent in the next six months”

Hiring Trend

Hiring by pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies has gone up by 7-8 per cent over the last 40 days and is likely to surge up to 25 per cent in the next six months, as they ramp up drug production to meet domestic as well as global demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic, industry experts said. According to Xpheno, a staffing firm catering to the pharma sector, as many as 30,000 vacancies exist across the pharma space, in areas of sales, research and development functions such as in formulation and analytical development, regulatory affairs, production and quality control. To cater to the growing demand for trained manpower, the Life Sciences Sector Skill Council has tied up with the department of biotechnology to expand its training programme beyond bio pharma to areas of R&D and manufacturing.“Of the above, about 7-8 per cent vacancies are newly released ones, in about the last 40 days, broadly to fill in for a surge in demand or to address a very strong anticipation of a new opportunity around the corner,” Xpheno cofounder Kamal Karanth told ET.76394986This is likely to go up 25 per cent by December with companies getting ready for a sharp increase in demand post the pandemic, BTI Executive Search managing director James Agrawal said.“We have at least four-five such companies where we are helping in ramping up their headcount in India. They are not only looking at leadership talent but also talent at the mid and entry level,” Agrawal said.Zydus Cadila, one of the first companies to announce its vaccine programme for Covid-19 and is manufacturing the Covid Kavach Elisa kits, is recruiting people mostly in manufacturing and quality operations, especially at the shop floor.“We are open to hiring freshers, apprentices or even experienced professionals while also focusing on multi-skilling our existing workforce,” a Zydus Cadila spokesperson said.

Opportunities

According to Devashish Sharma, the chief of recruitment process at outsourcing company Taggd by PeopleStrong, major five to seven players have made 1,000-plus recruitments in the past two months. “The pharma industry continues to beat the Covid blues. Seventy percent of the hiring is in sales, followed by manufacturing and support roles,” he said. “Hiring people with different skill sets is something we have been working on for the last few months as we see greater demand for medicines going ahead,” said a Cadila Pharmaceuticals spokesperson.The company is witnessing a surge in demand for immunity-boosting drugs, sanitisers and is collaborating with the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research for trials of Sepsivac for Covid-19.

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