Niche commercial first aid business is an option for former drug company reps.

HART Health is growing aggressively  at the same time upheaval in the pharmaceutical industry is claiming thousands of thousands of jobs.

The layoffs predated the recession, producing numbers that are both staggering and sobering: In 2008 alone, Merck shed 8,400 workers; Schering-Plough, 5,500; Wyeth, 5,000; UCB Pharma, 2,000; AstraZeneca, 1,400 and Abbott Labs, 1,000. Glaxo-Smith-Kline laid off 5,000 people in 2007.

In 2009, pharmaceutical companies laid off about 61,000, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement specialist. In 2010, the industry had the most layoffs within the private sector, 54,000 — about 10 percent of the total lost jobs, the company reported in January.  Two of the 10 largest layoffs, including the public sector, occurred at drug companies last year: Merck laid off 17,500 people (Number 2) and Pfizer laid off 6,000 (Number 10).

Multiple factors are driving the decline but the bottom line for those who’ve lost their jobs is that that the pharmaceutical industry is not what it once was and may never be.

For these scores of employees “in transition,” owning a HART Health franchise is a solid option.

HART manufactures and distributes first aid supplies for the workplace. OSHA requires companies to provide necessary first aid supplies for their employees and most companies outsource management and supply of first aid kits, which controls costs and helps companies stay in legal compliance with little effort.

We manufacture many of our own products, which are considered the highest quality commercial first aid supplies on the market, and handle billing and other back-office functions for our franchisees.

Even during the recession we’ve grown. In 2010, we launched a new franchise system and acquired the van service division of Synergy Logistics, a Seattle-based first aid supply company.

HART Health is on a roll. If you think you’d like to join us, let’s talk.

Related Article: Significant Pharmaceutical Industry Changes Could Help HART Health

Photo Cred: Graur Codrin