Pharma firms battle severe employee crunch

BADDI BLUES PART-II

The Himachal Pradesh government's decision to reserve 70 per cent of the jobs generated in the state to its domiciles has translated into opportunities galore for experienced pharmacy professionals in the state.

The scarcity of human resources has resulted in pharmaceutical companies in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh offering the best salary packages, compared with those offered in traditional drug manufacturing hubs of Maharashtra or Gujarat.

High attrition rates and employee poaching has led to companies drawing up unique HR practices for the region, currently the country's largest drug manufacturing hub, to retain its employees.

"There are over 1,000 units, including 200-odd drug units that have come up in the this region during the last four years. This has led to a huge demand for employees, especially skilled personnel. Even a fresher can expect 20-30 per cent more salary that what he would get in other parts of the country," said Arun Rawat, general secretary, BBN Industries' Association.

Small and medium scale drug units, which survive solely on contract manufacturing, are the worst-affected. "It is not easy to retain employees when there is so much demand and such less trained staff. We are offering them the best pay packages and are helping them acquire more skills through constant training and involvement," said BKS Rathore, director, Scott-Edill Pharmacia Ltd.

Bigger players are also being cautious. For instance, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd has constructed residential quarters for all 260 workers within the locality. "That was a pro-active decision. We knew housing would be a major problem in Baddi," said Manohar Tegta, general manager, HR, Nicholas Piramal.

According to BBNIA, employee shortage will continue to be a problem in the region. The association has joined hands with Confederation of Indian Industry and the Himachal Pradesh government to find long-term solutions and is conducting job melas across the state.

The first one, organised at Solan in February witnessed 4,000 prospective employees and 40 potential recruiters.

"We had 1,500 vacancies of which priliminary screening is over for 1303 jobs. All of them were picked up through the job mela," Rawat said. BBNIA is planning similar job melas at Mandi and Dharamsala on May 5 and 6 this year.