The pharma sector, which had a low representation of women, is taking strides towards gender diversity and inclusion. While several efforts are being taken, second-career hiring is a powerful solution for improving women’s representation in the sector.
A recent report by Mercer has indicated that of the 49.5 million-strong workforce in the sector, only 11% are women.
The sector has seen several role models like Biocon chairperson and managing director, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw; Lupin CEO, Vinita Gupta; and Piramal Industries’ vice-chairperson, Dr. Swati Piramal, but has a huge task ahead to bridge the gap.
An Express Pharma report says that initiatives like the Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council, instituted by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), bridge the gap. They are working closely with academia and industry to nurture industry-ready candidates. The report also notes corporates collaborating with institutes to have industry-ready candidates, as some organizations are hiring women through in-house assessment centers.
Apart from these, facilitating the return of women on breaks is one of the most effective means to improve their ratio in the sector.
As a pioneer in second-career hiring of women, Avtar has also been collaborating with pharma companies to rope in more women with a few roles.
Some of the advantages of Avtar’s second-career hiring program are:
Flexible and tailor-made: Thesecond-career hiring program offers a range of options for organizations— from an internship model to boot camp with full-time hiring after assessment following upskilling, and a full-time model.
Focuses on organizational culture: By sensitizing the talent acquisition team, the second-career hiring program also looks at removing biases. Gender intelligence training for hiring managers and TA teams aims to promote a healthy gender-diverse workforce and eliminate conflicts, improving inclusivity and the sense of belonging. Women making a career comeback are trained on work-life integration by leveraging a support system to reduce attrition.
A pioneering approach: With close to two decades of experience in placing second-career women, Avtar has enabled several companies across sectors to find the best talent for numerous roles. Apart from ensuring an industry-specific approach, Avtar’s second career program for women also follows an end-to-end solution for talent acquisition needs.
The 2022 Best Companies for Women in India study by Avtar in association with Seramount has found that the pharma sector is gearing up to improve the headcount of women alongside IT and BFSI, with 7% of the 100 Best Companies from pharma sector. Second-career programs are a compelling option and can complement other measures like building an ecosystem.
