TOI Healthcare has been one of the top performing sectors du...
globalhunt news and media

Healthcare has been one of the top performing sectors during 2013.   

 In terms of hiring. The Healthcare/Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical sector fared better than any other key industry in the last six months.

It reported an average annual growth of 2 per cent during the July to December 2013 period. Experts believe that the industry will continue to be a key employment generator in the future.

According to Sunil Goel, MD GlobalHunt, “Healthcare is largely a recession proof sector, only 20 per cent of the industry depends on preventive healthcare revenue.”

Healthcare has been the only other industry, beside the IT/Telecom sector, to witness growth in demand, for talent, during the last six months. 

Goel added that India has grown as a health tourism destination in the eastern part of the world; healthcare services in our country are cost – effective and efficient

“In the last one decade, Healthcare has grown as an industry, as a result of the conscious approach of people towards their health, “he mentioned.

Large pools of healthcare professional have been recruited by large captive R&D centers in India to support the global Market.

Goel stated that this demand will continue to grow at the rate of 30-40 percent a year.

The Healthcare industry in India is expected to reach US $280 billion by 2020 and is going to be one of the key employment generators in 2014.

Goel clarified that the Healthcare sector does not only include doctors and medical professionals. Today, it attracts talent across functional categories including sales, marketing, finance, HR, IT, administration, customer care services, “The sector is working like a full-fledged industry, so there is overall growth in the industry for all professionals, be it core or support, “he added.

The key functional areas that are witnessing increased demand in the Healthcare/Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical sector include:

Sales (inside/clinical support)

Medical affairs

Regulatory and safety

Multi – Channel marketing R&D

Compliance and quality

Information Technology

Highly skilled manpower will continue to be the focus of Indian Healthcare and Pharmaceutical business in 2014, said experts.

Goel explained that while demand for other experience categories is always specific to function and Organisation, fresher can fit everywhere, since they are flexible, energetic and can be molded according to the job role.

“Most of the companies try to hire a large portion of people from campus for any new, innovative projects and also train them on new product and services line for the long terms,” he added

While there is demand across experience categories, a the top level the rate of growth is comparatively slow.

Goel explained, “Optimisation of cost happens only if there is a right mix of senior and grassroots level workers. Too many senior hires may imbalance the workforce; the real executors are the workers at the ground level. This is largely the reason for slow hiring rate at the top level.”

Goel explained that though the Healthcare sector is not geography specific, but Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad are hubs for manufacturing units in Life Sciences and Pharma industry, thus there is more demand for talent in these locations.

Among states, Gujarat and West Bengal reported maximum increase in demand (30%) for talent in the sector, followed by Maharashtra (27%)

In south, Bangalore and Chennai reported significant rise in hiring activity, in the Healthcare sector. While Chennai, Bangalore followed with 8 percent rise in demand for talent, during the period.

Goel reasoned that Bangalore being the corporate headquarter for most of the Healthcare/Biotechnology organizations, reported an increase in demand.

Given the fact that healthcare services are in demand, and hospital chains are coming up in tier I and II cities, demand for doctors and paramedic staff, in these locations, has gone up and will continue to rise he added.

The Indian healthcare industry is expected to reach US$160 billion by 2017, according to a Frost & Sullivan report, According to Sunil Goel. The Healthcare industry is consistently growing and 2014 is also expected to be good for the sector. Continuous R&D on innovation including technology intervention is creating a lot of efficiency in the sector. Thus, in the next 5-10 years the Healthcare sector in India is expected to witness phenomenal growth and it will be one of the key sectors to watch out for, in times ahead”