CPL LIFE SCIENCES
Life sciences staffing A Look back: 2023 Overview
Northern Ireland Across the water in Northern Ireland, the life sciences sector has become a hub for cancer research and precision medicine. In 2023, demand for specialist talent pushed the need to introduce innovative approaches to recruitment. With 16,500 students studying life and health sciences in related subjects in the region, collaborations with academic institutions, such as the Queen’s University Belfast, were introduced to alleviate the shortfall in skilled candidates joining the local life sciences workforce. Switzerland In Europe, Switzerland maintained its leadership in pharmaceuticals and biotech. The market is characterised by high demand for skilled professionals in clinical research and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Swiss biotech companies overall recorded revenues of CHF 6.8 billion, with the industry raising more than CHF 1.3 billion, from public, and private companies. Demand for highly skilled labour mirrored investment trends in the Swiss market. The number of employees in Swiss research and development (R&D) biotech companies rose in 2023, despite a dip across November and December 2022—impacting overall figures significantly. Pharma remained, by volume, the largest recruiter with 85% of all vacancies, with the larger companies such as Lonza, Novartis, Roche, leading the way again.
United States of America Although still a major life sciences powerhouse globally in 2023, with US life sciences employment reaching a record high in January 2023, the market did not escape the global impact of economic influences, geopolitical unrest and the hangover from the pandemic. Despite a strong start to the year, US life sciences companies announced many more layoffs in the first two months of 2023 than in 2022. Although the overall rate of growth slowed during the year, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston/Cambridge and Seattle were the fastest- growing markets. Across the year, the labor market remained highly competitive, with companies increasingly prioritizing staff retention. Hybrid and remote working, alongside attractive benefits packages and retention bonuses were introduced by companies to retain staff. Conclusion In sharp contrast to the previous two years, the life sciences staffing sector had to adapt to overcome numerous global challenges in 2023. However, the industry has shown resilience and a remarkable capacity to navigate the complexities of the current economic and geopolitical landscapes. 2023 was a year of learning and change for the life sciences staffing sector, with lessons learnt undoubtedly poised to shape recruitment strategies and decisions as we head into 2024.
Data source: Vacancy Soft
Clinical functions have been similarly impacted, with vacancies down 50% year on year. Medical Affairs was least effected with vacancies down 17%. For non-scientific roles, IT saw the largest drop, falling by 36%; however, outside of life sciences IT vacancies have fallen by more. Sales and marketing vacancies were down 27% and 30% respectively. Engineering was the most resilient for staffing, with a drop of only 2%, highlighting the importance of manufacturing operations in the UK.
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