Pharma Contract jobs

strandsman · 23-10-2020 9:29am #1

Hi All
I am thinking of getting into Phara from my current permanent professional maintenance/engineering role in electronics manufacturing. A couple of things I'm unsure about.
(1) Why are a lot of the jobs 11 month contracts?
(2) What happens at the end of the contract? is it renewed on a rolling basis? some of the jobs I am interested in are essential to the operation of Pharma so why is it contract and what happened to the previous person, did they not perform?
(3) If you don't perform to their expectations, the contract may not be renewed?
(4) If I work through an employment agency (as an employee) and having spoke to them they say if the contract is not renewed they will relocate me!
(5) would a bank offer a mortgage/car loan based on a Pharma contract job? etc etc.

Have any of you on here had experience of Pharma contract work?

P.S the reason why i'm thinking of switching industries is electronics manufacturing is in decline and is very susceptible to global varying economic conditions

dpforce · 23-10-2020 3:07pm

1) Because it gives company a lot of flexibility when it comes to management of the workforce based on business requirements;
2) At the end of the contract it will extended for another 11 months, it won't be extended or you may be made permanent based on staff turnover even after 4-6 months (most likely it wont happen during COVID pandemic).
I assume you looking at places like Pfizer or Amgen. At least Pfizer maintain constant number of permanent employees and a number of contractors. If one of permanent employees decides to leave - somebody on contract will be offered permanent role. It really depends on shift and department. Some people will be made permanent in 6 months, so will stay on contract for couple of years or more;
3) Usually contract renewal based on business needs and not on you performance. Things change very quickly in pharma industry. They may start hiring like crazy, but if project fails - lot of people will be let go. Its easier to get rid of contractors than of permanent staff.
4) depends of agency;
5) car loan most likely won't be a problem, mortgage - no chance;

Wiggles88 · 23-10-2020 3:08pm

Hey I'm currently contracting in the pharma industry, have been for the last 3 years so maybe I could help.

1) This is the standard for most, just gives the company wiggle room to easily get rid of you if needs be.

2) Assuming you're not crap at the job and theres still work to be done (i.e. its not for a particular project that has reached its end point) they'll just roll it over for another year.

3) Thats about it. Its can be a pain to get good people in the pharma industry in specific roles (not too sure how competitive the maintenance roles are, im in a different area) so a lot of time if the person isnt terrible they will be kept on if theres work to be done.

4) yeah...they can do, they also take a big chuck of your money and give you very little in return. You would be an employee to the agency (so all the down sides of being an employee here) and you would be considered a contractor to the site you are based (so all the down sides of being a contractor as well). My opinion would be to either go as an employee to the actual pharma site you are working in or in as a contractor. Those type of placement companies are just there to make money off your back while giving you next to nothing in return.

5) If you are a contractor and you are looking for a mortgage the back will want to see 3 solid years of accounts before talking to you (sometimes just 2 if you have a good deposit) so if you are planning to buy a house soon thats something to factor in.

strandsman · 23-10-2020 6:23pm

Ya thanks guys, I suppose I'm cautions about the whole contract thing alright, I'm lucky I recently paid off mortgage etc but if I ever wanted to relocate for example I might need to go to bank etc but if I show consistent employment over a period of time I might be ok. I suppose setting myself up as a contractor would be better , pay less tax but pay my own pension, etc etc. no hols pay and stuff like that.
How would it work out if I wanted to leave that contract position for another in another company for example before the term was up. I'm also afraid of fecking up something and then contract not renewed etc because of it, Everyone makes mistakes etc!!!
Sorry for all the questions but I want to cross check everything!!

nutjobb · 26-10-2020 10:17am

I'm in a very similar position to you. Currently working in medical devices (permanent) after starting out contracting. Now a pharma engineering role has come up and would be back to contracting again. This time I'll be setting up a Ltd company instead of going paye like I did last time.

Phama is the best paying industry for the likes of ourselves and they usually only take candidates with previous pharma experience already so it is an excellent opportunity to get the foot in the door of the industry. Even though medical devices is highly regulated also its still difficult to transfer.

The last time I was contracting was for 2 years I then negotiated a staff position. I do however know people contracting over 5 years so it varies greatly.

The company I'm looking at is busier than ever even with the pandemic, so look at how your potential company is looking overall.

I was able to get a mortgage after 1 year of contracting with EBS, boi wouldn't at first but when they saw I had one got they tried to intice me back to them (I bank with them). So I wouldn't let the mortgage thing be a deciding factor. He said to me they had to change their model as contracting is now so popular, this was 2019 maybe the pandemic has changed it again.

zep · 26-10-2020 8:31pm

(1)This is more to do with entitlements, i.e. if you were given 12 month contracts your technically entitled to the same treatment/benefits as a staff person.

(2) Depends on a number of factors, your performance, attrition, business demands etc. But rolling renewals is quite common. Contracts usually work out better for the company so they are not looking to fill with perm staff.

(3) Absolutely, they can let you go if you don't perform or business demand is not there.

(4) I'd be skeptic of that one, that a red herring from them to get you in.

(5) Mortgage can be difficult, but after a couple of years of rolling contract and a current contract the banks usually OK, they know the industry is vibrant.

strandsman · 27-10-2020 11:40am

Thanks all for your input. I'm growing confidence in the idea of contract work in pharma alright.

Pharma Contract jobs

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