Employees for specialized marketing are hardest to find, according to pharma producer Pfizer's HR Manager, Mirela Iordan. "Pharma companies do not take marketing specialists from other industries. They are trained in the pharma industry, and their shift from one company to another is quite frequent. It is very difficult to replace these people; additionally, the labor force is costly, as it requires specialized skills," she said.
A recruiter specialized in pharma industry personnel indicated that companies in the field have developed more than the labor market. "Companies have virtually doubled the medical force representatives, so they are facing problems identifying medicine and pharmacy graduates," says the General Manager of specialized recruitment company Expand Health, Carmen Catrina.
The lack of skilled personnel is more obvious in small towns, where it is difficult to convince doctors and pharmacists to become medical representatives. "Doctors and pharmacists are more tempted to work in the medical system or work abroad. However, there are more non-medical university or ASE (economics) graduates among those who are applying for medical representative positions," according to Mihaela Iordan. As they do not have a specialized background, such candidates need about one year to obtain the skills required by multinationals.
Training entry-level medical representatives costs some $8,000-10,000 per employee, according to Pfizer's HR manager. "A company would rather employ people with at least one or two year’s experience in another pharma company," Mihaela Iordan added.
