The life sciences market is booming as demand for top talent continues to soar. At the same time however, a severe shortage of candidates is creating major challenges for companies looking to expand and grow, placing candidates firmly in the driver’s seat. Employers are working harder than ever to attract top talent – this means they are reassessing their employer value propositions, and offering higher salaries, better benefits packages, and more flexible working allowances. To learn more about how the talent shortage is impacting life science professionals and organisations, we spoke to Chloe Baverstock, Manager for Michael Page Life Sciences: What trends have you been seeing in the UK life sciences sector?Chloe: “It's a candidate scarce-market right now, and we have seen a proliferation of hard-to-fill roles. There are not many candidates available, and that means that employers are having to try much harder to entice top talent. It’s also proving necessary for them to remain open to hiring less experienced candidates who they can upskill, which is a great opportunity for professionals looking to take a jump in their careers. “Of course, there are a range of talent acquisition challenges across different areas. For instance, in the quality market, the need for candidates to be onsite restricts the available pool of candidates. As well as this, it’s a heavily regulated area, which makes it harder to teach and upskill. This means that the time-to-hire can be a bit longer. I advise clients hiring for quality roles to do everything they can to make the role more attractive to the small number of candidates that are available – and, critically, to move fast before they get snapped up!“Most regulatory and biometrics roles, on the other hand, can be fully remote, which creates a bigger candidate pool. There is still a scarcity of candidates, but the process tends to progress to the interview stage much more quickly than in the quality market. For professionals in these areas, the job-hunting process has never been so quick or easy.” How are these trends impacting employers and life science professionals? Chloe: “The employers that are having the most success in securing top talent are those that make sure the salary on offer is competitive, as we discussed in our 2022 Life Sciences Salary and Skills Guide. If you want to get the best talent, you need to be paying more than the rest, and also offering a great benefits package and bonus. This has given professionals that are looking for a new challenge a lot of flexibility and options.“The other thing for both employers and candidates to focus on would be their social media presence. It can make a huge difference when a company optimises its LinkedIn page and Twitter pages, providing regular updates, and really showing candidates that they are active and dynamic. Social media is becoming more and more important not just for general brand awareness, but also to be seen as an employer of choice. “By the same token, candidates will find themselves receiving more offers if they work on their online brand. If you are looking for roles, ensure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date and active, with a comprehensive overview of your skills and experience.” Are there any quick tips and tricks employers can use to attract talent right now?Chloe: “We've recently been asking our clients to put together a one or two-page document highlighting the journey that they have been on, successes they've had, investments, and what the plan is for this role. This needs to include the potential for career progression opportunities available too. Something like this, that really highlights what’s on offer and how it fits into the bigger picture, can be really valuable. “Another approach would be to invest more in potential and upskilling. For instance, I recently sourced a regulatory affairs manager for a client. The client wanted someone with experience in the UK and who had previously had three direct reports. There are very few candidates like that around, so this ended up being a great opportunity to hire someone with less experience but great potential and then upskill. “This has big repercussions for candidates as well. If you are a client who wants to make a move but isn’t sure that their skillset is refined enough, now is the perfect time to find an employer who will invest in your potential.” When it comes to hiring, how important is flexible working in the life science sector?Chloe: “The more open employers are either to fully remote working or flexible working, the easier they will find it to attract the candidates they want. Quite a few businesses that were fully remote at the peak of Covid-19 pandemic are now trying to get their people to go in four days per week, and are haemorrhaging staff because of it. The vast majority of the candidates we talk to in the life science sector want either remote or hybrid working allowances and, for the most part, they are able to get them. I expect the remote working trend to continue for the foreseeable future.”At Michael Page Life Sciences, we recruit across the full drug life cycle, from discovery to patient delivery. Our clients include market leading pharmaceutical, biotech, biopharma, medical device companies, as well as top CROs and consultancies across the UK and EU. So, if you are looking to hire top talent or searching for your next role, get in touch with one of our expert consultants. Or, to learn more about the key trends impacting the life sciences sector, access our eBook series.
