[ad_1]
Over the past two decades, India’s biotech industry has undergone significant transformation, emerging as a prominent player in the global life sciences space. With more than 2,500 biotech companies, India currently ranks among the top 12 biotechnology destinations globally. This growth trajectory highlights just how crucial the biopharma sectoris, in India’s goal to become a $150 billion bioeconomy by 2025.Nevertheless, despite the industry’s upward growth trajectory, navigating thetalent crunch remains a critical challenge as per the 2023 Global Biopharma Resilience Index.
The Global Biopharma Resilience Index (GBRI), a survey of 1250 biopharma and healthcare executives across the globe, reveals that talent pool consistently ranks as one of the weakest, among the 5 pillars of investigated in the study – including supply chain, research and development ecosystem, manufacturing agility, and governance and policy regulation. The report highlights that the scarcity of biopharma talent is impeding the overall growth and advancement of the biopharma industry, particularly in developing markets.
The results from India indicate that this is a matter that demands immediate attention – on a scale of 10, India stands at 5.03 against a global average score of 5.60 when it comes to the talent pool, ranking 17th out of a total of 22 countries. In alignment with the National Biopharma Mission which focuses on creating a robust ecosystem to enhance the technological and product development capabilities, India performs well in two pillars – supply chain resilience, and governance and policy regulation, scoring well above the global average. Yet, as we push forward towards achieving the objective of the mission – to establish India as a global leader in biopharmaceuticals by 2030 – a considerable challenge continues to stand in the way: the talent crunch.
The talent crunch challenge
The reality of a talent crunch in the sector becomes even more intricate when viewed from a broader perspective. Within the larger context, three main challenges stand out. The GBRI findings in this regard indicate a significant challenge in talent acquisition and retention. For instance, for the talent involved in designing solutions, such as digital technology talent, and research and development talent, a significant portion of executives (57% and 54%, respectively) perceive acquisition as a moderate to substantial challenge. At the same time, for the talent involved in manufacturing – 52% of surveyed executives consider acquiring manufacturing talent capable of working in GMP-certified or equivalent facilities, a moderate to very substantial challenge.
Similarly, for those engaged in supply chain (procurement and operations management), 56% of the executives find talent acquisition and retention to be particularly challenging. The consumer and patient engagement segment also grapples with a similar challenge, with 60% of the surveyed executives expressing difficulty in acquiring and retaining customer/patient engagement specialists. 47% of executives also consider hiring and retaining senior management personnel a moderate to very substantial challenge.
Further, the findings indicate that there is a significant gap when it comes to education and training to make the workforce industry ready. As per the survey, 46% of executives contend that PhD degrees and regulatory qualifications in India presently fall short of industry requirements. Similarly, over a quarter of the executives have concerns about the scarcity of engineers that are GMP capable (33%). Further, 40% of the executives are of the view that there is a lack of general technical skills within the workforce.
Additionally, the findings reflect that in India, a small portion of the executives perceive government regulations in the biopharmaceutical sector as rigid when it comes to workforce scaling (20%) and utilising the expertise of foreign talent (16%).
Navigating the talent crunch
In the face of these challenges, it becomes evident that there is a pressing need to upskill jobseekers, continue the upskilling of those already working in the sector, and actively attract international talent to India to augment the depth of expertise within companies. This direction closely aligns with India’s National Biopharma mission, which suggests targeting young professionals, building proficiency in product development, ensuring a supply of talent for translational research, and manufacturing and discovering novel molecules.6
India represents a microcosm of global diversity and skill – housing a talented workforce. An important step in this context would be to communicate the overarching narrative to them – to convey the significance of the biopharma sector and its impact on the world that we live in.
The biopharma sector places substantial emphasis on training to ensure that the workforce is industry-ready. These training programs, however, often come with rigid schedules, limited adaptability, and logistical complexities. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning for training purposes, alongside maintaining flexible working conditions holds the promise of improving the learning process while streamlining these issues.
Further, with the rapid advances in biologics and the need for a highly specialized skill set, upskilling of the existing workforce becomes imperative. As organizations focus on upskilling their employees, collaborative efforts between the industry and academia remain essential in order to meet the evolving needs and technological advancements within the biopharma sector.
Lastly, it is through building a work culture that is motivating and rewarding, the biopharma sector can continue to build powerhouses of knowledge, growth, and development – building a better world.
By Mansha Pathak, HR Director at Cytiva India
The Global Biopharma Resilience Index (GBRI), a survey of 1250 biopharma and healthcare executives across the globe, reveals that talent pool consistently ranks as one of the weakest, among the 5 pillars of investigated in the study – including supply chain, research and development ecosystem, manufacturing agility, and governance and policy regulation. The report highlights that the scarcity of biopharma talent is impeding the overall growth and advancement of the biopharma industry, particularly in developing markets.
The results from India indicate that this is a matter that demands immediate attention – on a scale of 10, India stands at 5.03 against a global average score of 5.60 when it comes to the talent pool, ranking 17th out of a total of 22 countries. In alignment with the National Biopharma Mission which focuses on creating a robust ecosystem to enhance the technological and product development capabilities, India performs well in two pillars – supply chain resilience, and governance and policy regulation, scoring well above the global average. Yet, as we push forward towards achieving the objective of the mission – to establish India as a global leader in biopharmaceuticals by 2030 – a considerable challenge continues to stand in the way: the talent crunch.
The talent crunch challenge
The reality of a talent crunch in the sector becomes even more intricate when viewed from a broader perspective. Within the larger context, three main challenges stand out. The GBRI findings in this regard indicate a significant challenge in talent acquisition and retention. For instance, for the talent involved in designing solutions, such as digital technology talent, and research and development talent, a significant portion of executives (57% and 54%, respectively) perceive acquisition as a moderate to substantial challenge. At the same time, for the talent involved in manufacturing – 52% of surveyed executives consider acquiring manufacturing talent capable of working in GMP-certified or equivalent facilities, a moderate to very substantial challenge.
Similarly, for those engaged in supply chain (procurement and operations management), 56% of the executives find talent acquisition and retention to be particularly challenging. The consumer and patient engagement segment also grapples with a similar challenge, with 60% of the surveyed executives expressing difficulty in acquiring and retaining customer/patient engagement specialists. 47% of executives also consider hiring and retaining senior management personnel a moderate to very substantial challenge.
Further, the findings indicate that there is a significant gap when it comes to education and training to make the workforce industry ready. As per the survey, 46% of executives contend that PhD degrees and regulatory qualifications in India presently fall short of industry requirements. Similarly, over a quarter of the executives have concerns about the scarcity of engineers that are GMP capable (33%). Further, 40% of the executives are of the view that there is a lack of general technical skills within the workforce.
Additionally, the findings reflect that in India, a small portion of the executives perceive government regulations in the biopharmaceutical sector as rigid when it comes to workforce scaling (20%) and utilising the expertise of foreign talent (16%).
Navigating the talent crunch
In the face of these challenges, it becomes evident that there is a pressing need to upskill jobseekers, continue the upskilling of those already working in the sector, and actively attract international talent to India to augment the depth of expertise within companies. This direction closely aligns with India’s National Biopharma mission, which suggests targeting young professionals, building proficiency in product development, ensuring a supply of talent for translational research, and manufacturing and discovering novel molecules.6
India represents a microcosm of global diversity and skill – housing a talented workforce. An important step in this context would be to communicate the overarching narrative to them – to convey the significance of the biopharma sector and its impact on the world that we live in.
The biopharma sector places substantial emphasis on training to ensure that the workforce is industry-ready. These training programs, however, often come with rigid schedules, limited adaptability, and logistical complexities. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning for training purposes, alongside maintaining flexible working conditions holds the promise of improving the learning process while streamlining these issues.
Further, with the rapid advances in biologics and the need for a highly specialized skill set, upskilling of the existing workforce becomes imperative. As organizations focus on upskilling their employees, collaborative efforts between the industry and academia remain essential in order to meet the evolving needs and technological advancements within the biopharma sector.
Lastly, it is through building a work culture that is motivating and rewarding, the biopharma sector can continue to build powerhouses of knowledge, growth, and development – building a better world.
By Mansha Pathak, HR Director at Cytiva India
[ad_2]
Source link
More Stories
Google Maps: Three privacy features coming to Google Maps on Android, iPhones
Most-Downloaded IPhone App: This Chinese app was the most-downloaded iPhone app in the US in 2023
Ukraine’s largest mobile operator goes offline for millions of users after cyber attack