Manufacturing the right talent

Known as the “Pharmacy of the world”, India is a hub for pharma manufacturing and occupies a hefty 20 per cent share in the global generics volume supply by manufacturing 60,000 different generic brands across 60 therapeutic areas. The industry is poised for considerable growth in the near future and is expected to reach $130 billion by 2030 (currently valued at $50 billion) (1). 

With an aim to become more value-driven, India’s pharma industry is looking beyond generics, targeting innovations in drug development. Such ambitious goals will require robust strategies, and to implement those strategies, the pharma industry will require a resilient and future-ready workforce. India Pharma Inc., must therefore focus on optimising and refining its current processes and practices from the bottom up especially, as a sector that contributes greatly to public health and enhances the overall quality of life. 

As a core component of the pharma industry, manufacturing and its associated practices need to constantly upgrade and adapt to the industry’s changing trends. Minimising human errors, keeping up with the evolving market demands and regulatory landscapes and adapting to technological advancements are the paramount goals for manufacturing. Therefore, the industry needs to focus on upskilling its shop-floor workforce. 

An article by CLR titled “Skill Gap Analysis of Indian Pharmaceutical Sector” informs, that since a majority of the pharma manufacturing units are located in remote regions, not many are willing to relocate to these areas for employment. Therefore, securing and deploying a skilled workforce with highly specialised skills to ensure Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Clinical Practices (GCP) becomes challenging.

Fortunately, recognising the imperative for skilled talent, the industry is working on ways to plug the talent gap through skilling, reskilling and upskilling initiatives. As per a 2024 Employment outlook report by TeamLease, 86 per cent of Healthcare and Pharma employers have shown serious intentions of expanding their workforce driven by ongoing health demands, the surge in digital education and addressing growing industry needs (2). 

Let’s look at a few measures that are crucial to nurturing a skilled workforce. 

Bridging the industry-academia gap 

Industry and academic experts agree that industry readiness and job-specific skilling should begin from the academic level. But, they also admit that the current curriculum and teaching approaches need reform to put this into practice. Sumedha Nadkar, Pharmaceutical Consultant and NMIMS – Visiting Faculty Quality & Regulatory Affairs says that internship opportunities are provided to B.Pharm and M.Pharm students by pharmacy colleges. But, pointing out the challenges, she informs “NM College SVPTMhas a non-teaching staff member dedicated to look after placements. Most colleges are not so fortunate and some teaching faculty have to carry out this task while balancing their regular work (syllabus completion/exam paper setting /checking), and preparing for audits like NIRF, and NAAC.” Therefore, this becomes an arduous task. 

Nadkar points out, “Rural pharmacy colleges need more attention. Students here lack the basic English communication skills and require direction on career options,” highlighting the need to improve skilling in institutes at the tier-2 and tier-3 levels. Recommending measures to deal with this issue, she says, “The Ministry of Education/ Rural Development/ Science and Technology can collaborate and invite applications from industry consultants and senior management to host sessions and internship programmes.” Simultaneously, Nadkar also stresses adequate training of the faculty, emphasising their lack of exposure to the industry. To aid industry-academia interactions, she suggests hosting student interactions with the alumni, depending on the alumni’s authority and influence in their organisation. Such interactions can also pave the way for internship or employment opportunities. 

Explaining the initiatives that the industry must take to bridge the industry-academia gap, Dr Viranchi Shah, National President, IDMA, stated, “Practical training, classroom training, and involvement in cross-functional teams are some basic things that the pharma industry does. Interacting and engaging with ITIs, pharmacy colleges and other academic institutions is also on the rise, to ensure that the new entrants to the industry are industry-ready. The overall principle is continuous training and engagement at the lowest possible level and continuous interaction with academic institutes.”

Need for apprenticeships 

Sumit Kumar, Chief Strategy Officer, TeamLease highlights apprenticeships as a successful strategy to skill fresh talent for the pharma industry and bridge the industry-academia gap. “Unlike traditional education pathways, apprenticeships provide a unique blend of on-the-job training and theoretical instruction, ensuring that participants develop practical skills that are immediately applicable in the workplace,” says Kumar. This model is especially beneficial in the pharma sector, where roles like bioprocessing technicians, quality control analysts, and regulatory affairs specialists are becoming increasingly crucial. Kumar explains how major pharma companies in the UK have implemented apprenticeship programmes as an effective way to nurture a skilled workforce, ensuring that employees are well-trained and abreast with the latest industry practices. This model has proven to be cost-effective, allowing companies to tailor the training to their specific needs, resulting in a highly competent workforce that is ready to contribute to the industry’s growth.

We have similar examples on the domestic front as well. For instance, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ concept of ‘Self Management Teams’ (SMT). The company informs that the initiative aims to “create an energetic, vibrant workforce capable of handling plant operations seamlessly.” A Dr Reddy’s spokesperson informs, “Since 2001, through SMT, we have trained over 4,500+ youth (10+2 candidates) from economically weaker sections to help them join mainstream professional life. SMT is an initiative aimed at building an agile and empowered workforce, by providing employment opportunities, appropriate education and training/skilling to create a more engaged and flexible workforce whilst providing livelihood opportunities.” 

Thus, apprenticeship programmes act as a talent pipeline builder, providing a great model to address niche manpower shortages, and a steady stream of skilled individuals ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow. In India, the pharma sector has witnessed an expansion in apprenticeship programmes as well. According to TeamLease, the apprenticeship engagement in the sector has grown 25 per cent year-on-year in the last two years to reach 22,731 in 2023-24. Kumar says, “These programmes cover a wide range of roles including lab technicians, drug safety analysts, and retail pharmacy chemists, and have been supported by government initiatives such as the Skill India Mission and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).” He emphasises that these programmes aim to not just fill up job vacancies but also aim to build capacity and capability within the life sciences sector. 

“Providing on-the-job training alongside formal education apprenticeships ensures that the workforce is well-prepared to meet future challenges, particularly in areas like digital manufacturing, data analytics, and AIdriven drug discovery,” says Kumar.

Upskilling to build competency 

The second stage of training is skilling the freshly acquired talent according to their job role and upskilling the long-term workers to enhance their adaptability to the dynamic and developing nature of the industry. Advancing technology, increasingly diverse demands and the changing regulatory landscape demand for the workforce to be adaptable, well-versed with the latest technological advancements, and regulatory compliance. 

As per a USFDA Congressional report published in 2020, India stood the lowest among India, the EU, the USA, China and the rest of the world with only 86 per cent of drug facility inspections with acceptable outcomes (3). Moreover, during 2023 and 2024, 35 Indian companies received OAI status during the facility inspection by the USFDA. This indicates an urgent need to not only monitor quality control but also implement methods that can enhance the competency of regulatory compliance to the shop floor workers. 

Highlighting the crucial role of the shopfloor workers, Shah says, “Shop floor workers are the most fundamental contributor to the success or failure of any organisation.” Considering that real quality is built by workers, operators and supervisors who work on the shop floor, Shah adds, “The major gap as far as manufacturing operations is concerned is in getting skilled machine operators, and also in skilled people on ground-level QMS implementation.” With the increasing influence of automation, digitalisation, and the increasingly precise and technologically advanced equipment in the pharma industry, Shah deems continuous practical training of the shopfloor team to be extremely pivotal.

Fortuitously, the industry is taking several measures to provide on-the-job training to its employees. Rajendra B Chunodkar, President – Manufacturing Operations, Lupin provides insights into what strategies Lupin implements to ensure its employees are prepared for audits. “We regularly conduct mandatory training sessions on regulatory standards, audit procedures, and the latest guidelines from regulatory bodies such as FDA, EMA, and CDSCO.” He highlights how Gemba walks and internal mock audits aid in simulating real-world scenarios and encourages quick thinking and cross-functional collaboration to ensure that all Lupin’s departments are aligned and prepared for audits and regulatory inspections.

ken a holistic approach to people development for shop-floor personnel, including training on 5S Methodology and Six Sigma green belt and black belt training, language training for our shop floor operators, hyper-personalised communication coaching, and gamified learning for SOPs, GMPs, and Audit Interactions, among others.” This ingrains adherence to regulations into their daily operations.

Advancing with technology 

Additionally, as per a 2024 employment outlook report by TeamLease, there’s a growing demand for niche skills in AI, ML, data analytics, and medical coding to derive healthcare insights and contribute to the ongoing transformation in manufacturing, precision medicine, and diagnosis (2). These sophisticated tools can help focus on lean manufacturing practices, reduce waste, and improve production efficiency. 

Shah explains, “The pharma industry is fast adopting automation and digitalisation, and the involvement of technology in equipment is also increasing. Continuous practical training of the shop floor teams to keep them in pace with the changes is therefore very important.” Therefore, as the pharma sector moves towards digitalisation, leveraging digital technologies to improve productivity, efficiency, and innovation becomes increasingly important. 

Explaining the methods that Lupin implements, Chunodkar adds, “Our employees receive extensive hands-on training on new technologies, including machinery, software, and automation systems. We also partner with technology providers for continuous support, updates, and advanced training sessions to keep our teams ahead of the curve.”

Conclusion 

Quality control, learning how to operate machinery, and the competency of regulatory compliance are some of the governing factors of pharma manufacturing. Given the advancing state of technology, and increasing demand in society for quality medications and treatments leading to a consequential increase in production and evolving regulatory landscapes, the pharma industry must be equipped with a talented and competent workforce, from the ground up. Thus skilling this workforce from its root (i.e.) academia level, and continuing to upskill them as employees is an investment that can guarantee the benefits of an agile and skilled workforce in the long run. 

References

1.https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/pharmaceuticals#:~:text=The%20pharmaceutical%20industry%20in%20India%20is%20 currently%20valued%20at%20% 2450,all%20medicine%20in%20t he%20UK.

2. https://group.teamlease.com/ insights/employment-outlook-report-h2-fy24/

3.https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/congressionaltestimony/covid-19-and-beyondoversight-fdas-foreign-drug-man ufacturing-inspection-process06022020

4. https://blog.clrskills.com/skillgap-analysis-of-indian-pharmaceutical-sector/

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