Problems plaguing drug manufacturers are bad for business but apparently good for the job market.
According to a report in Pharmalot, hiring for quality control and regulatory areas are a genuine "bright spot" in the market. Citing first quarter data from executive search firm ZRG Partners, it says that sector of the industry saw a 15% hiring increase, in a global pharmaceutical and medical device market that only experienced a 3.7% jump.
The report says manufacturing jobs in general accounted for 4.4% of growth, while R&D hiring saw a free fall of 25% and the once vaunted sales and marketing sector shrank 5%.
Europe was doing most of the overall hiring with an increase of 25%, while the job market in North America remained mostly unchanged and the Asia Pacific area, seen as a big growth market, actually reported a decline.
While quality management does not account for a ton of new jobs, there have been a number of very public announcements by companies like Hospira ($HSP) and Novartis ($NVS) about additions in quality control and manufacturing oversight.
- read the Pharmalot piece