Pharmaceutical industry: Increasing pressure on the labor market

Among all Occupations throughout the entire pharmaceutical value chain, shortages of skilled workers are getting significantly stronger. Not only are difficulties in filling positions intensifying in IT professions relevant to the pharmaceutical industry, which are required by pharmaceutical companies as well as other industries to drive digital transformation and are scarcely available nationwide in the job market. Companies are also finding it increasingly challenging to find suitable personnel in pharmaceutical-related occupations within 'production' and 'sales'. Here, the shortages are primarily driven by occupations where pharmaceutical companies compete with other industries for available skilled workers.

The regionally concentrated pharmaceutical industry is differently affected by more severe staffing difficulties across all considered cluster regions. The affected job profiles in these regions vary also according to the economic focus of the companies. Among other factors, specific pharmaceutical core professions, which require industry-specific qualifications and in which employees are employed more frequently in the pharmaceutical industry, are now more affected by shortages. However, whether this is related to the regional specialization of companies or the generally strained labor market situation in the region cannot be conclusively answered within the scope of the quantitative analysis. Urgent action is required to establish both political frameworks to secure the future demand for skilled workers and incentives for companies, in the increasingly competitive environment for available skilled workers, to find the right measures for securing skilled workers in the short to medium term.