[Reporter's View] On downsizing global pharma sales force

The notable change currently observed in the global pharmaceutical industry is a series of organizational restructurings, commonly referred to as Early Retirement Programs (ERP).

Major global pharmaceutical companies have already implemented large-scale ERPs centered on sales positions, and the trend of downsizing continues even in traditional areas where sales force strength was historically critical, such as chronic diseases. This trend is similarly impacting the South Korean subsidiaries of multinational corporations.

The most apparent reason for this trend is cost efficiency; however, the term "Role Redesign" is increasingly used within these organizations. These adjustments are not intended merely to reduce the workforce; instead, job functions are being restructured as AI-based sales models become fully operational.

For several years, global headquarters have been building AI-based systems for visibility optimization, digital channel automation, and prescription-prediction models, while downsizing sales organizations. The information that was previously gathered through field-based sales activities is now presented first by the system, which even recommends specific behavioral strategies.

Multinational subsidiaries in Korea and domestic pharmaceutical companies find themselves at a similar crossroads, having reviewed or implemented ERPs in recent years. However, a persistent issue is that ERP in the pharmaceutical sector is still often interpreted as a short-term efficiency measure to improve sales productivity.

Global trends indicate that ERP is linked to organizational redesign, job redefinition, and the acceleration of AI and digital transformation. The era where simply reducing staff created efficiency has ended. The more critical question now is which roles should remain.

Specifically, the functions of a sales organization are beginning to be divided into tasks AI can perform and those it cannot. The first category includes repetitive and standardized tasks that AI and data can replace. Systems now provide visibility ranking, channel mixes, and basic messaging faster and more accurately than humans.

The second category involves high-difficulty roles that AI cannot replace. This includes areas requiring qualitative judgment, such as understanding hospital decision-making structures, regional characteristics, differences in patient distribution, subtle market fluctuations at the time of competing drug launches, and identifying the actual needs of medical professionals.

These are the underlying reasons why global firms have expanded Key Account Management (KAM), Hospital Access, and Medical collaboration organizations following their restructurings. Traditional sales are cut down, not strategic sales.

As ERP becomes more prevalent in the Korean market, the most significant challenge lies in updating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and job standards simultaneously. If an organization implements AI-based strategies but continues to evaluate employees based on legacy metrics, such as the number of visits, simple sales volume, or regional distribution, ERP will only serve to make the organization more inefficient.

ERP must be a process of redefining what the organization considers "performance," rather than just adjusting headcount. Immediately following downsizing, global companies transitioned their KPIs to focus on strategy execution, targeting appropriateness, and multi-channel utilization. Conversely, many domestic companies remain tethered to past metrics.

Ultimately, ERP is the starting point of change. Whether that change becomes a foundation for new competitiveness or remains a short-term cost-cutting exercise depends on how quickly an organization can redefine roles and standards.

In the era of AI, a salesperson's status is determined not by who has accumulated the most data, but by who interprets it correctly. As global restructuring accelerates, pharmaceutical companies must redesign the future of their sales organizations. What remains is more important than what is cut down.