Pharma emerges as major recruiter

With traditional sectors like banking and finance taking a backseat at most B-school placements, sectors like pharmaceutical and healthcare have emerged as major recruiters.

Firms like Abbot, Piramal and Bayer India have made their presence felt at KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. “Increasingly, pharma companies are finding it easier to recruit people from B-schools for jobs in marketing, human resources and finance. Pharmaceutical companies have not been hit as badly by the recent slowdown as some of the other sectors and and therefore can afford to recruit,” said ND Sharma, placement co-ordinator, KJ Somaiya.

At the institute, around 350 companies have been called for placements. Of these, 10 per cent are from the pharma and health sector. A third of the students (around 100) have received offers from these 30 companies. The total batch strength is around 294. Sushil Bahl, chairman - placements, Nirma Institute of Management (NIM), Ahmedabad, said the pharma sector and the manufacturing sector were doing well in spite of the slowdown.

“With good performances, pharma companies have emerged as potential recruiters during the current slowdown. We are seeing increased number of pharma companies on campus. At our institute , Ahmedabad-based pharma majors like Cadila Pharma and Zydus Group have visited the campus for recruitment. More pharma companies are also coming in,” said Bahl. Around 120 students are participating in placements at NIM this year.

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, is also witnessing a trend where pharma and manufacturing sector companies have emerged as major recruiters.

A media spokesperson at ISB said companies in the lifestyle space were coming for recruitment this year for around 440 students.

Last year, ISB witnessed a total number of 31 offers from the healthcare, pharma and biotechnology sector of 657 total offers. The institute expects the ratio to increase this year.

The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) University’s Ahmedabad campus is also exhibiting a similar trend in placement patterns. Firms in media, advertising, market research and analytics have also been regular visitors to the institute.