Indian pharma industry is indicating a huge demand for experts in regulatory affairs, research & development, occupational therapists and product marketing. The sector is also showing that the salary paid is largely differentiated and is increasingly based on skills.

The demand is driven by the frequent new guidelines from global and Indian regulatory authorities. The R&D personnel now need to be equipped to innovate. Occupational therapists are being hired to ensure workforce are not tied down by job-related hazards. There is new realm in product marketing with the onset of Big Data and Analytics providing ease in data volume and velocity,.

“There is a huge dearth of experts armed with this proficiency and skill-sets which are difficult to find, Rituparna Chakraborty, senior vice president and co-founder, TeamLease told Pharmabiz.

“Therefore demand for personnel with proficiency in regulatory affairs, research & development, occupational therapists and product marketing is steadily rising. The non-availability of talent now commands a premium remuneration. There is definitely a shortage of specialists because these are not glamorous postings and with not too much access to talent,” she added.

In its Job and Salaries Primer 2015, TeamLease has said that specialization and niche areas of personal health and related talent acquisition, are fueling the need for tomorrow’s talent. Pharmaceuticals command salary growth rates between 10.5 per cent and 12 per cent for the top paying cities of Mumbai , Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune.

Mumbai is the top salary paying city across seven industries. Delhi leads across 4 industries and Bengaluru in one. In all, each of the three cities feature in about 10 of the 15 cities covered by the analysis.

Certain city-industry clusters are proving to wield enormous clout in consistently attracting the best salary growth rates over time. For instance in Bengaluru -IT (14.7 per cent), Mumbai-FMCG (13.6 per cent), Bengaluru-healthcare & pharmaceuticals (13 per cent) and Pune-power & energy (12.5 per cent) are the city-industry clusters that dominate this scene. The clusters are characterized by a mature talent demand-supply scenario where businesses are comfortably ensconced in cities with high quality talent pools. “Particularly Bengaluru is the hub for IT in pharma and healthcare which impels, salary growth, said Chakraborty.

Health & pharmaceuticals is a domestic market growth story. India, a hub for generic drug manufacturing offering a 40-70 per cent of the WHO demand for DPT & BCG and 90 per cent of measles vaccine. Over the past decade, the private sector's share in healthcare delivery increased from 66 per cent to 81 per cent. Propelled by domestic demand of great magnitude, the ever-ebullient industry is set to add substantially to talent demand. Healthy growth rates in double digits are supporting healthcare & pharmaceuticals which is in accordance with the stupendous domestic market growth. While the industry has a strong precedence of equitable payouts across cities, it is discerning in terms of talent quality, TeamLease study indicated.