RPO partnership helps pharmaceutical giant launch new manufacturing facility

A global pharmaceutical giant needed to launch a new manufacturing facility to support its growth in injectables and endocrine products.

The organization’s talent acquisition team didn’t have the resources or bandwidth to devise and execute a talent acquisition strategy that would enable it to hire the talent at the pace needed to launch the new facility on time.

It decided to house the new facility in The Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, which is one of the largest research parks in the US. Competition for talent, as a result, was fierce as the park is home to hundreds of pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, including many of the pharmaceutical company’s competitors.

Speed was of the essence as any delays to the new manufacturing facility would have been costly and would have affected the company’s wider injectables and endocrine product strategy.

 

The pharmaceutical company partnered with WilsonHCG’s healthcare and pharmaceuticals division for an end-to-end RPO solution which included everything from attraction to assessment. We partnered with the organization’s leadership team to advise on the available talent pool in the region and the impact this would have on timelines, while highlighting competitors that would also be vying for the same talent.

We also provided consultation on its employee value proposition and employment brand before launching a full-scale recruitment marketing campaign. To boost brand awareness in the region, we ran an out-of-home (OOH) advertising program featuring billboards in the area. The RPO team, which consisted of experienced professionals in pharmaceutical recruiting and was up and running within eight weeks, embarked on a strategic sourcing program and developed a talent pipeline to ensure a steady stream of talent for immediate and future needs.

The local market knowledge and pharmaceutical expertise that the dedicated RPO team had meant the team was able to unlock talent and find candidates fast both digitally and at in-person shows and events in the region.

Despite a highly saturated talent market, the pharmaceutical facility was able to launch on time and on budget. Achievements included:

• Reduced time-to-fill to 59 days
• Reduced cost-per-hire by 83%, saving the organization almost $1 million in agency spend to date (July 2023)
• Established a strategic sourcing program to pipeline talent
• Provided consultation to boost employment branding
• Devised an effective recruitment marketing campaign that included out-of-home (OOH) advertising to raise awareness and allow the company to stand out from competitors

Key stakeholders at the facility in the Research Triangle Park have since recommended WilsonHCG RPO for an additional manufacturing site in Concord thanks to the success of this project. Work has already started, and we expect this partnership to further expand to other regions.