TeamLease, India’s largest composite staffing company, perceives that demand for candidates armed with the expertise in Big Data and Predictive Analytics is seen to be a key requirement in the pharma and healthcare recruitment landscape.

New domains such as Big Data and Predictive Analytics are accelerating the need for a highly sophisticated workforce not just in information technology and engineering but in pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

In an era where companies are offering global shared services to reduce costs, increase performance and efficiency, Big Data & Predictive Analytics is gaining ground in knowledge process outsourcing space, Kunal Sen, senior vice president, TeamLease Services told Pharmabiz.

In bioinformatics too, Big Data & Predictive Analytics methodologies enable managing massive and complex information.

The skills required for a Big Data analytics function are diverse with need for sound foundation in mathematics and statistics, besides programming skills. The domain, by itself, affords an entire hierarchy of data analyst job profiles, each of which is both intellectually and monetarily rewarding. Demand, across the hierarchy, will likely far outstrip supply, he added.

There is a clear emphasize on the need for skills. In fact there is a growing requirement for talent in the field of delivery and logistics, facility management, mobile applications as well as data science and data exploration. Some of the sought after skills are content curator, dental hygienist and valuation and market risk analysts. Particularly when pharma and healthcare industry is steering inorganic growth paths, market risk analysis comes to the fore, he pointed out.

There is a constant demand for futuristic skills especially in sectors like IT which is percolating to the pharma and healthcare creating openings for systems engineers, SAP consultants, SQL, DotNet and Java developers, database administrators and project managers, Sen said.

In its latest Employment Outlook Report for April to September 2015, TeamLease has also indicated a consolidation approach by India Inc. While business sentiment will witness a drop of one point, the employment outlook will be down by two points. However, the cautiousness seems to have not dampened job growth, it remains strong at 11.3 per cent.

Hyderabad with its prowess in generics and bulk drugs besides being a hub for healthcare providers has indicated a 3 per cent growth in hiring followed by Chennai.

According to Sen, the economic fundamentals that drove business and hiring sentiments during the last six months continue to exist. The current dip is more a course correction than a downturn. The pro-industry announcements and easing of norms coupled by the resurgence in the GDP growth will definitely pull the hiring back onto the growth trajectory.

Hiring in the current half year will be spearheaded by medium and large businesses. From a functional perspective, sales and marketing, one of the evergreen profiles seems to have lost its sheen in the employment market in the metros but indicates more openings in tier 2 and 3 cities for pharmaceuticals, Sen said.

TeamLease sees attrition driven by need for better career and higher salaries, besides an element of expectation mismatch for both employers and employees.