Drugstore expansion generates skills shortage

The domestic pharmaceutical market generated the biggest transactions in the industry last year, yet the battle was not fought only by lawyers and strategists.
Last year was also the year when the shortage of human resources in the sector became serious.
As both producers and pharmacists and distributors tried to strengthen their teams ahead of EU integration, the highly skilled workforce rapidly caught the attention of companies in the pharmaceutical sector.
However, this year, too, started with a human resources shortage in the sector.
“There’s a workforce deficit at all market levels. Were I to put together a ranking, the drugstore segment would be the leader, followed by producers and then distributors,” said Andreea Lupan, general manager with Barnett McCall General Recruitment.
At the level of pharmacies, where employers are faced with the greatest challenges, difficulties start to emerge at the university level.
Whereas in other domains, such as IT, there are specialists, but they are hunted by multinationals, the number of graduate pharmacists is dwindling.
On the other hand, as far as distributors are concerned, there is a strong impact in terms of the salary packages the applicants request.
The growth of the business of the companies operating in the Romanian pharmaceutical industry also entailed a higher number of employees.
In addition, the opening of the labour market starting 2007 compounds the problem, making the recruitment even more difficult for HR managers.
“Recruitment-wise, a lower level of professional competence and rising employee expectations can be noticed.
The current labour market backdrop, where employees have the possibility of working in a much larger geographical area, is forcing companies and HR departments to continuously improve their methods related to the retaining and attracting candidates,” said Brandusa Fecioru, HR Director of A&D Pharma. The pharmaceutical industry was one of the most dynamic employers last year.
“If I were to answer the question ‘how will the human resources market look this year?’, I’d say ‘the fight is going on’ or ‘en garde’. It’s obvious the battle will be fought on a broader territory, that of the European community. Recruitment has gone beyond Romanian borders as early as last year. (…),” explained Carmen Zota, Farmexpert’s national HR manager.
Nevertheless, recruitment agency officials believe the risk of a massive labour force exodus in the pharmaceutical industry is smaller compared with other industries.
Salaries in the industry also increased, according to the latest information available, with the employees in pharmaceutical sector being the best paid, with an average income of 828 euros, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.
Companies are embarking on further recruitment programmes this year, too.