Talent Pool Pressures in the Life Science Market

Candidate shortages within the Life Science industry are nothing new.

The industry has been in various stages of innovation and development for the last 30 years, and since the traditional role of a Research Associate changed in the early 90s, niche skills, and discipline-specific talent pools have been born.

To look at the talent arena post-pandemic and as we begin to approach the mid 2020s, we see this thread continuing – new opportunities, technologies, needs and expectations of the industry continually progressing and thus broadening the division and specialisation within talent pools. However, it would be a mistake to view the current talent market as otherwise equivalent to its previous status. Life Science industry experts are today witnessing a perfect storm of talent pool pressures, resulting in a talent shortage without historic precedent or equivalent.

An overview of the conditions driving the shortage, and some corresponding recommendations for employer action follow.

KEY DRIVERS//

BIOLOGICS

Approval rates

Drug approval rates from the FDA continue to increase

Pre-2015 the FDA, established as the regulator for the healthcare market globally by spend, had only modest approval rates. Via dialogue with biologics therapy developers (sponsors), they were clear that as many new and emergent therapeutic technologies came to light, it was not entirely clear what the correct and most relevant data to be considered in the course of their approval was to be.

Therefore, this uncertainty represented significant risk in its ambiguity to any investor, or sponsor.

Since 2016 however, approval rates from the FDA for Biologics have increased rapidly. This change reflects a continued investment into this field, as well as a greater clarity for designing approval processes in an innovative space. The FDA has adapted its approval process and outlook to accommodate for dealing with the innovative nature of biological products and therapies.

Investment

In 2019 $62bn of private equity was invested into the innovative Biopharmaceutical space, through start-up, Series A, and Series B funding. In the same year, the combined R&D budgets of Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer, amounted to less than $30bn together. This represents a huge investment, which is significantly disrupting the Biotechnology talent landscape. Total investment in Europe’s biotech firms has more than doubled in the past seven years compared with the previous 7*.

Projects

The scale of biologics manufacturing we see demanded today, was never previously needed.

Following the increase in a product’s likelihood of achieving approval, to succeed in penetrating the market, biologics products need to be produced to a scale which assures both patients and regulators of their availability. This has resulted in a huge increase in projects. The construction and operation of such facilities requires the need for very specialist skillsets; individuals who have experience working on similar projects. In particular, personnel must have experience of working within the regulatory environment of manufacturing sites to be compliant with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), and demonstrable experience of being a functional or technical expert in their field.

Biologics manufacturing facilities, as a condition of GMP, are often based in different locations around the world. A sponsor must therefore mitigate supply-chain risks by enabling production of a therapy in multiple locations. This means that for candidates - job opportunities will not always be local. To enhance their career and work on the most efficacious project initiatives, individuals with relevant project experience must be mobile and willing to work as an expatriate.

COVID//

The Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating in its human toll, and at its inception forced the immediate refocus of firms with existing vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities. Prior to this, general Biopharma research and development spend had been on the decline for many years.

When looking at the available talent pool we need to consider the scale and downsizing of several industry majors such as Novartis, GSK and JnJ in the previous ten years. Their cumulative shift enabled vaccines talent to repurpose their careers into other segments of the Life Science industry, however once Covid-19 necessitated fast up-scaling, the result has been a gaping talent vacuum. Vaccination research and development, driven by significant Covid-19 investments, has essentially driven a renewed demand for staff from the vaccination research and development industry on a significant and immediate scale.

The manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccinations poses a considerable talent-specific dilemma: global biologics production capabilities were already overwhelmed, booked out, and facing acute talent shortages pre-pandemic, especially in the CAPEX investment space where firms are building production capacity for the future. With pre-Covid demand being so high, post-Covid demand has become knife-edge competitive - for example, on average every candidate in the Schengen area is estimated to have around 42 suitable positions to choose from.

During the volatility of capital markets and investments seen in 2019, healthcare investments proved a reliable opportunity for return in the market, with a degree of insulation from global economic cycles. The resulting capital in-flow has given many projects the chance to progress – for which volume staff levels are needed.

WAR//

The conflict in Ukraine, whilst not necessarily having a direct effect on the talent supply chains described here, does have a profound impact on job seeker confidence. An end to the longest period of peace within Europe since the second world war, and the first European war in the lives of Generation Z who are now emerging into the workforce does represent a source of humanitarian, ethical, and personal anxiety.

Against such a backdrop candidates are losing confidence, and questioning if this is the right time to change their job. We witnessed a decline in job applications in the weeks following the start of the crisis and this appears to be an ongoing trend.

EVOLVING EVP & WAR ON TALENT//

No employer exists in isolation; each one is part of a talent ecosystem competing for professionals against a large number of competitors.

In recent years the importance of the competitive advantage delivered from a strong employer value proposition (EVP) is beginning to be understood. Covid-19 brought about a reshuffle in a standard working practices; flexible working hours, home offices, and hybrid working solutions have become the norm, and some firms are now taking team meetings or conferences to the metaverse.

Organisations must do all they can, and are comfortable with, to keep pace and remain an attractive employer to both current, and potential employees. If your EVP fails to appeal and remains ignorant of competitor activity, your organisation risks becoming irrelevant to the talent you wish to attract.

WORKING FOR A PURPOSE//

Working with purpose and towards a deeper vision has been found to offer profound benefits and effects on both staff attraction and retention success rates (*Source: McKinsey; Forbes; Deloitte).

Considering not just scientific progress, the investment project, or a corporate development goal, but rooting the corporate objective itself, organisational plan or team objectives in a patient / disease-centric outlook provides opportunities to both have a positive humanitarian impact, and the positive side effect of expediting the impact of talent strategies.

HIRING STRATEGIES//

Within the dynamic environment outlined here conveying multi-faceted pressures there is no simple way an employer can guarantee success in making a hire.

Success will be a result of optimising routes to market, supply chains, organisational purpose, and a strong EVP combined with a pragmatic approach to staffing success. Organisations which can impact time to hire, produce compelling packages where EVP and purpose are an intrinsic element, and have a practical outlook to employing an individual based on competencies and culture fit balanced against skills-focused experience will emerge as winners.

The concept of hiring for competencies over skills-based experiences is not a comfortable proposition for many hiring managers working in our industry which by design necessitates that candidates need a baseline experience level to perform at a functional level, particularly within the realm of GCP, GMP, GLP, ISO and EUMDR.

However, an open mind and the ability to assess an individual’s cultural fit, the strength of their relevant competencies and their baseline skillset is a mindset which is fit to win in today’s environment.

This can entail:

• A typically more “broad brush” approach to salary bandings and experience levels required
• Flexibility in languages spoken: is local language fluency truly essential for the role?
• Speed: aligning corporate interview processes to the demands of the talent market; those who can hire fastest are often those who can hire first
• Alignment of stakeholders before beginning an interview process: ensure all stakeholders agree to the fundamental and core parts of the specification before initiating searches
• Being prepared to sell your firm: candidates should have researched your organisation, but all stakeholders need to actively advocate the reasons to work at the organisation, whilst also bringing a personal perspective on what their employment means to them
• Accept that usually grade AAA+ candidates, go to AAA+ firms, for AAA+ packages: understanding where you own firm and EVP fits into the talent system is key to understanding the profile of candidates you can realistically expect to attract in today’s competitive talent market

Our Life Science division is experienced in managing, consulting, and supporting clients around the world to help them achieve their organisational goals.

In light of the current market landscape, the most pragmatic approach a business can take with their hiring strategy is to adopt a flexible approach and broaden the scope of what “good” looks like.

To discuss your hiring needs and recruitment strategy, please get in touch.