ITS TRENDS, NEEDS…
Turkey has a big pharmaceutical industry and the structure of this industry is changing. Since the mid 1980s, the number of foreign pharmaceutical companies in Turkey has risen significantly. In terms of estimated market shares of imported goods (raw/semi-finished products), U.S. based companies control approximately 30 percent of the market. UK companies have around 22 percent and the Swiss account for a 17 percent of the market share. In other words, almost % 80 of this sector is run by foreign companies.
In terms of the employees working in the pharmaceutical sector in Turkey, education levels are high and the teams are highly qualified. For example, pharmaceutical Sales Representatives in Turkey, more than often are university graduates.
Following the increasing competition in the sector, pharmaceutical companies are becoming more and more aware of the value and importance of their HR functions and the need to recruit and retain the best workforce. So they are improving their HR practices and are creative in this area in order to stay competitive in the market.
Many of the pharmaceutical companies have started outsourcing their recruitment process, transferring all or some parts of its recruitment process to a recruitment companies – to us! One of the major advantages that we provide to these organizations is that we help them to save up to as much as 40 per cent of their recruitment costs. Due to the experience, expertise and the network that we have, organizations are able to improve the quality of their new recruits and in addition do this faster. Furthermore, outsourcing enables the human resource professionals of organizations to focus on other core and / or strategic issues on their plate. In conclusion, we help them to focus on their other main areas of work but at the same time provide them with the most qualified talents.
Recruitment is one of the most crucial roles of the human resource professionals because the level of performance of an organization depends on the effectiveness of its recruitment function. A successful recruitment strategy should be well planned and practical to attract better talent to apply to the organization. We, consultants, plan and then take targeted actions. For example in the pharmaceutical sector headhunting is one of the most efficient tools out of all the tools that we have at our disposal. As we all know, headhunting is about finding and attracting the best experienced person available in the market; it also requires competence in communication and negotiation skills. These high caliber candidates will only respond positively to high caliber executive firms which Antal International Turkey is. In other words, not everyone can be headhunter although they may be excellent recruiters.
These trends and demands in the pharmaceutical sector aren’t influenced by the crisis as unfortunately some other sectors. The pharmaceutical companies in Turkey continue to hire mid and high level candidates in spite of the crisis. They also continue to be open to APC marketing. They are always interested in qualified candidates who could improve their business results and their image in the sector. Most of the authorities say that the pharmaceutical sector will be the “remedy” to the unemployment caused by this crisis.
Ayse UNAL KARPAT
Business Unit Manager
Email: AUnal@antal.com
