Pharma Firm's €50M Estonian Plant Faces Staffing Crisis
Veterinary medicine producer Pharmapark is recruiting 70 new employees for its state-of-the-art €50 million factory in Lasnamäe, Estonia, after laying off 28 workers from older facilities who have largely refused to transfer to the new site.
- —Veterinary medicine producer Pharmapark is recruiting 70 new employees for its recently opened, modern €50 million factory in Lasnamäe, Estonia.
- —The company has issued layoff notices to 28 employees from its older production units in Viimsi and Maardu, as operations are consolidated into the new Lasnamäe facility.
- —While Pharmapark is offering positions at the new plant to affected employees, a significant portion are reportedly unwilling to transfer due to various reasons, including distance and a reluctance to change work environments.
- —The new Lasnamäe plant, which began operations in spring 2024, is designed to be one of Europe's largest and most modern veterinary medicine factories, focusing on sterile production and export markets.
- —Pharmapark Production's chemical laboratory received Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification in spring 2025, with plans to expand its scope and obtain operating permits for additional production lines.
Recap
Pharmapark's massive investment in a modern, export-oriented production facility is being undermined by a fundamental operational challenge: retaining its experienced workforce. The situation reveals a critical miscalculation in its consolidation strategy, where the presumed appeal of a new plant failed to overcome employee inertia and practical concerns. This disconnect between capital investment and human resources now poses a significant risk to the timeline for reaching full production capacity and realizing returns on the €50 million outlay.