AmerisourceBergen, a global healthcare leader with a foundation in pharmaceutical distribution, has announced plans to expand its global business services (GBS) centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. The company will seek to expand its 190-strong team in Lithuania more than threefold – to 700 employees – over the next five years.
One of America’s biggest public companies, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen, provides pharmaceutical distribution services and solutions to advance the development and delivery of products and create unparalleled access for human and animal health. In 2012, AmerisourceBergen acquired World Courier, a global speciality logistics provider, expanding the company’s presence to more than 50 countries worldwide.
The company first entered Lithuania in 2017, when World Courier opened a transport office in Vilnius to better serve the growing demand in the Baltic region. Staffed by less than 10 specialists at the time, the centre focused primarily on shipment management. However, thanks to AmerisourceBergen’s continued focus to expand its global footprint and the excellence of local talent and infrastructure, the company soon significantly increased its Lithuanian headcount.
Opened in 2019, AmerisourceBergen’s multifunctional GBS centre provides essential support across the extensive portfolio of AmerisourceBergen’s businesses. Over its two years of operations, the centre grew to an almost 200-strong team of Finance, IT, HR and other specialists.
According to Trevor Hanbury, Managing Director of World Courier Lithuania, the centre’s functional split has expanded to a scope much broader than originally planned.
To support pandemic-related demands, a number of new roles and functions have been instituted at AmerisourceBergen’s GBS centre in Vilnius, including a Customer Service Control Centre that coordinates the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines as well as other pharmaceutical products in the Nordics, Germany, and the US. In addition to Customer Service, IT and Finance are the company’s fastest-growing functions in Vilnius, but specialists also work in QA, Robotic Process Automation, Sales Support, Business Analysis and other areas.
“We now embark on the next stage of our expansion, planning to grow the centre to over 700 employees over the next five years,” says Mr. Hanbury. “Vilnius will be one of the biggest AmerisourceBergen sites outside the US, supporting global operations and projects.”
Looking to add 500 specialists, AmerisourceBergen hopes to expand existing functions, especially HR, Accounting, and IT. The company also plans to offer a variety of roles and career paths for both current employees and new hires.
“The continuous expansion of AmerisourceBergen’s GBS footprint in Lithuania, both in terms of team size and the variety of functions, is a sign of the quality of our vibrant GBS sector,” says Elijus Čivilis, General Manager of Invest Lithuania. “Lithuanian talent has been supporting the company’s operations during this extremely challenging time for the global healthcare industry, and I believe that this partnership will continue to bring great results in the future.”
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen fosters a positive impact on the health of people and communities around the world by advancing the development and delivery of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. The company employs 42,000 global team members to power its purpose: create healthier futures. AmerisourceBergen is ranked #8 on the Fortune 500 with more than $200 billion in annual revenue. Learn more at www.amerisourcebergen.com.
