Ma Foi Randstad, India’s largest integrated HR services company, is intensifying its efforts to partner with customers across the country to help them develop their employer brand and to develop alternative channels of attracting talent to the sector and optimize the cost of recruitment.

Indian healthcare employment scene has been on the upswing compared to the global markets. In 2010, the sector saw 33,77,652 jobs created in the country and by this year-end, a total of  36,26,152 jobs with at east a 15 per cent wage inflation is expected.

Biotech companies, health insurance companies, hospitals, diagnostic laboratories and  pharmacies are hiring as well. With over 4.7 million professionals in demand over the next 10 years the sector is a consistent employer, Penetration of health insurance, setting up of new healthcare facilities in tier2 and tier 3 cities which are opening up new avenues for employment generation, growth of medical tourism for alternative therapies like Homoeopathy and Ayurveda are also providing new job opportunities, Aditya Narayan Mishra – president, Staffing, Ma Foi Randstad told Pharmabiz during an interaction.

Despite the global economic slowdown, the healthcare sector remained insulated from recession.

The  demand for right talent will continue to be much stronger in coming years. The sector is creating employment opportunities for specialized professionals across various functions and is attracting talent from other sectors as well.

Multinational companies are also leveraging upon the talent pool in India to build various companies. Global majors are diversifying into healthcare and the existing players are expanding which has created a new space for Indian medical specialists trained and working in the West to return to India creating a reverse brain drain situation, he added.

Jobs in demand include home health care aides, nurses, technicians and specialist doctors. Within nursing space, opportunities like nurse anaesthetists, nurse practitioners and psychiatric nurses are on the rise. Many openings within healthcare sector but not related to direct patient care are opportunities in life science industries, healthcare IT  for creation and maintenance of  electronic medical records and medical coders.

Freshers contribute to a greater percentage of employment in this sector compared to experienced workforce. In 2010, the sector has filled up 56.70 per cent of its total employment with new entrants. However, it is increasingly becoming a challenge for this industry to find the right skills in large numbers. Hence, companies are focusing on various means to attract the best talent. These include high level marketing campaigns, turnkey hiring, tie-ups with specialized colleges to pick fresh candidates with the right attitude and then train them up to the required job, stated Mishra.

According to Ma Foi Randstad ideal candidates for the healthcare sector are those with job-specific certification qualifies. For generic skills such as customer service, procurement, supply chain, executive co-ordination and various other assistance functions, basic qualification with soft skills are adequate. Pharma graduates can go into production, marketing and sales, academics, quality control or assurance, product management, pharmacy, R&D, IT functions in pharmaceutical companies. There are similar opportunities in nutraceutical companies.