US Pharma and Biotech Summit 2024: Bringing the Skillset of Generation Alpha to the Pharma Industry

PE: Are there any new skills that generation Alpha is bringing to the workforce? Will it help strengthen the industry?

Villar: I think generation Alpha is really bringing a lot of interesting skills to us in the way of data science, in the way of AI or digital tools that perhaps we're not comfortable with in some of our roles. I think the trick is going to be how do we harness those skills? How do we put them to use quickly because they are also ever changing. Staying on top of those skills that they've developed, continuing to evolve the skills and the person, and then putting them to best use for how we target our businesses. I think this is a exciting opportunity, really exciting time for us to think about how we can manage tools like AI in a better way that will make better medicines better innovation, and at the end of the day, hopefully better for all patients.

PE: What struggles do you believe that these incoming pharma professionals will face when adapting to common industry practices?

Villar: As I mentioned in the session, I have a 16-year-old son. I think with him, I observed that patience is not necessarily a virtue in his eyes, he likes to move quickly. If he doesn’t get an instant reaction to something, he's already moved on and forgotten about what it was. I think a lot of that has to do with the way they use data, the way they use electronic devices, etc., which is fine. But I think that on certain things, you have to not only factor in what the data are and what the right thing to do is, but the politics of the situation, or some underlying financial factors that you might have to consider, finding the patience the patience to take all of that in and try to understand the reasons that decisions are being made in a certain way. I think that could be hard. Listen, I'm not even going to say how old I am, am patience is sometimes a challenge for me. So, I know that this is something that we all could work on. I think when you're brought up in a generation where information is instantaneous, that makes it even harder to manage your own expectations and your own patience.

PE: Are there any additional comments that you would like to add?

Villar: I would just say that this is not an issue in terms of dealing with younger generations coming into the workplace that we can avoid, we have to adapt, and we have to learn how to recruit the best talent and retain them in a way that makes sense for everybody. Real human behavior is complex, and that is part of what we’re dealing with. Learning together and growing together is going to be really important, and I think that is a challenge for us as we are very used to looking for certain expertise and being loyal to that person in their expertise for a long amount of time. How do we all adapt? How do we do so in a way that continues to make us successful in in the businesses we run?