Amgen
Image: Connor McKenna

What do top pharma companies do for their community?

23 May 2018

Many multinationals have opened up Irish operations, building facilities and bringing new jobs, but what else do pharmaceutical firms do for their local communities?

The life sciences industry has become a significant feature of the Irish business landscape. Ireland is the seventh-largest exporter of medicines worldwide and is host to 10 out of the top 10 pharmaceutical firms globally, Amgen included among them.

Amgen first arrived in Ireland in 2015, taking up residence at a facility formerly run by Pfizer carved into rolling green hills in Dún Laoghaire.

Amgen has done more than bring its life-saving medicines to Irish shores, however – the company has also asked what it can do to actively benefit the community.

We’ve previously reported on Amgen’s school outreach programme, and we decided to head down to the South Dublin offices to catch up with some of the people who work there and discuss corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Sarah Oxley, a quality control (QC) specialist, spoke to us about the firm’s CSR programme, which includes “things like volunteering with local schools, volunteering with charities and also donating money to staff-nominated community projects”.

She added: “The management within Amgen encourage their staff to pursue opportunities which they feel would be of benefit to them, and this encouragement gives the staff the confidence to take those steps.”

Eoghan Shiels, senior manager in QC microbiology, beamed about the importance of Amgen being at the forefront of innovation and, personally, how much he valued his role in people’s career development.

“Being involved in shaping the career paths of those people who are involved in [Amgen’s] innovations is very important.”

Since the company landed in Ireland, the staff numbers have grown exponentially, and the growth does not seem to be slowing down, according to HR manager Mark Fitzgibbon.

“When I look at last year, for example, I can safely say that we hired successfully across all the functions across the site here at Amgen Dún Laoghaire,” he said.

“[Since last year] we hired successfully in all levels within quality engineering, manufacturing, packaging and inspection, supply chain, maintenance, utilities, IS (specifically automation). [We] want to continue to seek talent in those areas.”

For more information, check out the interview above.

Eva Short
By Eva Short

Eva Short was a journalist at Silicon Republic, specialising in the areas of tech, data privacy, business, cybersecurity, AI, automation and future of work, among others.

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