Pfizer: 150-euro bonus for "a recommendation"

Staff employed at the domestic unit of international drug producer Pfizer could receive a 150-euro bonus should a candidate recommended by them be recruited for the company.
“Employees recommending people for employment who prove to be efficient will get a symbolic bonus of 150 euros,” Mirela Iordan, the human resources manager at Pfizer Romania, told ZF.
Therefore, any company employee can propose candidates for vacant positions and if the recommended candidate is hired, the employee will receive a bonus of 150 euros (480 RON). Pfizer Romania hires at least one or two people per month and plans to organise a recruitment drive in December, in the wake of which the number of employees is expected to rise by around 10%. At present, the company employs around 200 individuals domestically.
“The pharmaceutical market offers some of the most sought after jobs on the market, besides the markets of telecommunications and banking, with average monthly salaries ranging between 2,560 and 3,000 RON (i.e. 940 euros). Our salary policy is aligned to the market and salary forecasts follow fluctuating market trends, which for 2007-2008 means an increase of 8-10%, including inflation adjustments,” says Iordan.
Pfizer’s reward strategy is not unique on the domestic workforce market, considering an increasing number of employers are experiencing a dramatic shortage of specialised personnel.
For example, Genpact Romania, a business and technological services provider, has an internal reward scheme for employee recommendations, both in the form of money and other forms of reward, such as offering a paid trip to the mountains to the employee who provides the most recommendations for a certain project, over a definite period of time, explains Cristian Popescu, vice-president of human resources at Genpact Romania.
This method is part of Genpact’s global human resources policy and was first applied at the Romanian subsidiary at the beginning of last year.
Pfizer is the world’s biggest drug producer, being one of the top five companies in all industries in terms of market capitalisation. The company has 120,000 employees globally. According to the data from the Cegedim market research firm, Pfizer generated sales above 25 million euros on the domestic market in the first three months of this year.