Madrid, June 22, 2017.- The innovative pharmaceutical industry with activity in Spain, generates a growing job market that has already created 39,392 direct positions, and is characterized by stability (93% of jobs are permanent), higher qualifications (59% are graduates) and the proportion of female employment, to the point where women occupy 51% of jobs, twice the average of other industrial sectors.  In the area of ​​R&D, female employment accounts for 65%, the highest figure of all the production network in Spain.  In addition, in the case of the pharmaceutical industry, it is precisely the group of minors under 29 years of age that has experienced the greatest growth in recent years (only 13.9% in 2016), so that now, one in three new contracts is for young people.

These are some of the conclusions of a extensive Employment Survey promoted by FARMAINDUSTRIA, representative of all 185 innovative pharmaceutical companies active in Spain, which account for 87.5% of the Spanish pharmaceutical market, including pharmacies and hospitals.  Data on new hires further reinforce these figures, which in terms of qualification, stability and female employment give leadership to laboratories.

The pharmaceutical industry is thus aligned with one of the most important needs of the country, such as quality in employment. It is one of the current challenges of the Spanish economy, stressed last month at the European Commission in its assessment of the Stability Program presented by the Spanish Government, in which urges Spain to take the necessary measures to promote permanent recruitment and increase higher qualifications within the job market.

After the economic crisis, employment in the sector has since recovered and is on a positive path.  Specifically, according to the results of the survey, the number of employees in the pharmaceutical sector has increased by 1.1% in 2016, reaching 39,392 people, and this figure is expected to exceed 40,000 in 2017, if the forecasts of the companies surveyed are correct.  Last year the innovative pharmaceutical industry increased its employment in particular with Production, where already a third of the staff, which grew by 3.3%, are grouped.  On the other hand, a slight decrease of 1.3% in the Commercial area was noted.

Contrary to what happens in Spanish job market as a whole, which currently holds a temporary employment rate of 26%, the vast majority of workers in the innovative pharmaceutical sector, 93%, have a permanent contract. In addition, only 2% of permanent employees in the innovative pharmaceutical industry work part-time, while this rate stands at an average of 20% in other sectors.

Effective equality between men and women

The pharmaceutical industry is also one of the few sectors within the manufacturing economy where there is effective equality between men and women when accessing employment. The fact that 51% of jobs are held by female professionals, more than double the industry average (25%), proves that the pharmaceutical sector is the leader in wage equality between men and women, since the average wage gap is only 10%, the lowest figure in all Spanish industrial sectors. The pharmacist is also the one with the highest female salary, which amounts to 36,344 euros per year on average according to INE data, not forgetting that women currently represent 57% of new hires.

Highly qualified employment

In addition to the above, this type of employment falls into the highly qualified job bracket; not surprisngly, is composed of 59% university graduates, compared to 42% in the Spanish economy, and this percentage increaes to 90% in the R&D area. In fact, two out of three new contracts are signed by university graduates, and about half of these new hires (44%) are with Production and Research.  Overall, the innovative pharmaceutical industry hired a total of 4,285 new employees in 2016, equivalent to 10.8% of the total workforce.  For the current year, forecasts indicate similar numbers of new hires, reflecting the dynamism of the sector and the continuous incorporation of talent.

“All this data shows the strategic importance that the innovative pharmaceutical sector represents for the Spanish market not only in terms of productivity and stimulation of R&D, but also of quality employment, a key aspect to guarantee the development of new drugs and ensure the competitiveness of our companies,” says the president of FARMAINDUSTRIA, Jesús Acebillo. He recalls that in Spain currently, the pharmaceutical sector generates  as a whole, 200,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs, and asserts this knowledge intensive industry as a reference for the transformation of the production model that is needed to promote Spain.

Acebillo asserts that, “these positive data on employment are not outside the framework of regulatory stability and budgetary sustainability created through the Collaboration Agreement signed with the Government in 2015 and ratified in December 2016. For this sector is a priority to continue working in the line established in this Agreement, which makes it possible to reconcile budgetary control and patient access to innovation. “