Key social figures

Galenica continues to grow

Galenica continued to grow in 2022. At the end of 2022, the Galenica Group had 7,608 employees, an increase of 5% over the previous year. The increase is due to organic growth at the Galenica Group. The proportion of women is around 74% and has remained relatively constant over the past five years. 57% of employees work part time, i.e. with a workload below 90%. The proportion of part-time employees has increased by 45% since 2018. The proportion of managers to all employees has remained unchanged since 2018 at 9%. From 2018 to 2022, the proportion of female managers rose from 51% to 53%. Employee turnover at Galenica was 14.4% in 2022, 0.7% lower than in the previous year.

Increasing investment in employee development and the next generation of skilled workers

In total, Galenica invested around CHF 4.6 million in employee training in the year under review, around 22% more than in the previous year. In 2022, Galenica trained 838 apprentices at its companies, 278 of whom completed their apprenticeships. Sinc 2018, the number of apprentices in the Galenica Group has increased by around 5%.

Measures to reduce occupational accidents

In 2022, Galenica recorded a total of 208 occupational and 864 non-occupational accidents. These figures also include minor accidents, which did not result in an absence of more than three working days. In 2022, minor accidents accounted for more than 60% of all occupational and non-occupational accidents. The number of occupational accidents is 28% up on the previous year and the number of non-occupational accidents has increased by 22%. The relative number of occupational accidents per 100 FTEs increased by 0.7 from 2.9 to 3.6. The increase in occupational accidents is partly due to employees at pharmacies offering more health-related services since 2022. Customer traffic was also up at pharmacies. The current shortage of skilled employees created a greater workload and time pressures. For example, there was a higher incidence of minor and slight injuries to employees involving consumables in the reporting year. Most occupational accidents are minor in nature, but still have to be reported. More awareness-raising measures are planned for 2023 to promote the safe use of consumables and thereby reduce the number of occupational accidents. Over the course of the year, two employees will be trained as safety officers at each pharmacy and be responsible for accident prevention at their respective pharmacy.

The absence rate for occupational and non-occupational accidents was around 0.51% in the reporting year and remained relatively constant compared to the previous year. At the logistics companies Galexis and Alloga, the number of occupational accidents and days lost fell by more than 30% in total. This reduction may possibly be due to the introduction of the accident barometer at the Niederbipp and Lausanne-Ecublens sites.

With a view to reducing occupational accidents, Galenica is introducing a systematic absence management system to the Pharmacies sector in 2023. Galenica is also planning to set up an outdoor gym area in collaboration with SUVA in 2023, as well as the accident barometer at Alloga.

Reduction in cases of illness since 2018

At the end of the reporting year 2022, Galenica recorded 409 cases of illness. Cases of illness are classed as all long-term absences due to an illness lasting more than 30 days and which are entitled to daily sickness benefits. The number for the reporting year should always be interpreted with caution, as certain cases are usually reported at a later date in the following year. Between 2018 and 2022, the number of cases of illness fell by 27%.

In 2020, Galenica recorded the absences of all employees for the first time. In 2022, the Galenica Group recorded a total of 599,540 hours of absence, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. Compared to the target hours, this results in an absence rate of around 4% for the reporting year. The absence rate has thus increased by 7% compared to the previous year.

In 2022, Galenica Case Management provided assistance to 97 employees at risk of illness or who had already fallen ill, thus helping to prevent or reduce absences where possible. Out of 84 closed cases in 2022, 69 employees were able to return to work thanks to Case Management. This corresponds to a return rate of around 82%, which corresponds to an increase of around 9% compared to the previous year.

Employees adhering to pharmacovigilance

In 2022, Verfora employees met the deadline for forwarding adverse event reports in 98% (target: >90%) of cases. 

Employee data

The key figures on the number of employees cover all companies of the Galenica Group in which a majority stake is held. The other key employee figures only include those companies that are fully integrated into the Galenica Group HR system. The HR integration of new companies which have only belonged to Galenica since 2022 will take place at a later date. Due to systemic challenges, full HR integration may take some time, depending on the size of the company.