Lupin Starts CSR Program For Lack Of Skilled Employees

Lupin has trained its third batch of students, graduated through the Lupin’s ‘Learn & Earn’ initiative. The company has helped a total of 560 graduates, with 181 students passing out this year. The company invests in the education and training of graduates; where learners earn a stipend while also being provided with subsidized accommodation, transport and canteen facilities at the learning centre. 

Lupin initiated the ‘Learn & Earn’ program in 2011, driven by a need for job-ready graduates with appropriate technical and life skills, with the ultimate aim of upskilling and generating adequate employment opportunities for deserving individuals from economically underprivileged backgrounds. 

Learning

The learners go through a custom-made course designed to prepare them for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Upon successfully completing the program, the students are conferred with a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from reputed universities

Students are taught about dosage forms, pharmaceutical technologies, manufacturing, chemistry and packaging along with communication skills, vocational practice and English.

Skills

Yashwant Mahadik, President - Global Human Resources, Lupin said, “The program was conceptualized in 2010 as a result of the acute shortage of skilled manpower that was experienced at a number of our facilities. Subsequently, we identified the technical and life skills that we sought out for in our employees and devised a curriculum to fulfill these needs in collaboration with leading open universities in our target regions, such as Yeshwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) and Bhimrao Ambedkar University. 

Why manufacturing?

Yashwant Mahadik explains the reason behind roping in students for manufacturing, “Finding technically proficient employees was difficult in the past, especially for manufacturing facilities located far from urban centres. Similarly, fresh graduates often find themselves unprepared for the challenges of modern workplaces and are either unable to find suitable employment or find themselves thrust into roles for which they are inadequately prepared.” 

The program serves as a mutually beneficial initiative, allowing deserving rural youth to pursue their quest for a higher education and preparing them for the expectations and pressures that come with full-time employment; while simultaneously ensuring that “Lupin has a ready pool of highly trained and talented potential employees, allowing us to maintain our standards across manufacturing facilities.”

Yashwant Mahadik however added that Lupin are open to add students in other areas in the company as well, “Pharma skills in manufacturing was one area where we felt that there was a need to train people. The graduates have hence been trained for manufacturing areas as part of the Learn & Earn programme, and they will primarily be absorbed into the same areas that they have been trained for. However, we continue to look for opportunities and areas where we can upskill our employee base reaching out to other areas as well.”