How Teva Develops the Next Generation of Professionals

A special program in our Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Manufacturing & Supply organization site in Opava, Czech Republic is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The idea: Teva's professionals educate and teach local high schoolers to familiarize them with the machines and processes, before graduates become colleagues.

When it comes to developing new generations of a professional workforce, every industry, including pharma, finds itself facing the same challenges. To overcome obstacles and create options for growth and development in the local communities where we operate, creative thinking and innovative programs are a necessity.

At Teva, it is part of our commitment to invest in our communities. Particularly in the smaller ones, where these kinds of opportunities can really make a change, for both the local population and the organization. A shining example can be found in Opava, Czech Republic, where Teva's API manufacturing site is celebrating the 10th anniversary of a successful educating program.

140 graduates joined the site's workforce

The program was created and is being operated as a collaboration between the Teva’s Opava site and the local Masaryk High School. Its goal: to educate and train local teenagers to join a professional workforce and provide a smooth transition from students to employees, if they apply for a job at Teva following their graduation from the program.

In a small town like Opava (~55,000 inhabitants), identifying and developing new production operators or lab specialists is an ongoing challenge, which this program set up to answer. Ever since its creation a decade ago, it has grown to become a well-oiled machine, and today Teva Opava can proudly say that approximately 140 of the graduates are part of the site's workforce.

"We are proud to take an active role in our local communities"

The students participating in the program take classes in chemistry, pharmacy, technology, chemical processes, analytical chemistry and more, but the real highlight is the time they spend in the site's training center, where Teva professionals meet with them every week to teach practical knowledge, such as how to operate machines or test the quality of products. This way, the students can see first-hand the site's culture, its processes ways of working, and of course, get to know the site's people. "If they join the site after graduating, the students are ready to contribute from day one in Production, Quality Control or other areas," says Petra Březovská, who has been working in the Teva labs for 20 years, and today leads the program in Opava.

Tomáš Jenč, an operator at the site, was one of the program's first graduates and joined Teva after completing his studies. "It was very important for me to find a good place to work right after high school," he recalls. "I wanted to become a professional in my field and get experience, so this was a great opportunity. I'll never forget the first time that, as a student, I got to work on the API machinery. Transferring the products correctly, working with great people, understanding the chemistry – that was exciting."

"This program provides young people with the opportunity of learning a profession for life," explains Amit Geva, Vice President, HR Business Partner for the API organization in Teva. "We have many learning programs and are proud to take an active role in our local communities."

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