The last two years have brought widespread disruption for businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with many having to shut their doors and enforce furloughs. As we approach 2022 it still remains a nervous time for many people and in particular for those in industries such as travel, hospitality, recreational services, arts and entertainment, whose role security fluctuates in tandem with the rise and fall of Covid-19 cases and the constant possibility of “lock-downs”.
One industry however that has countered this trend is the life sciences sector, where if anything Covid-19 has accelerated its growth further. In Ireland for instance, the sector was called on to meet the global need for ventilators, nebulisers and other critical devices. Ireland’s reputation as a hub for life sciences is undeniable. According to Enterprise Ireland, the total life science sector in Ireland exports more than €45 billion annually and employs over 50,000 people directly. Ireland is home to 9 of the top 10 life sciences companies.
The life science opportunity for Ireland however does come with its own challenges, the most obvious of which is ensuring an adequate supply of skilled talent. Even though Ireland has one of the youngest and most highly skilled populations in Europe, talent availability across many industries remains a challenge. It is particularly difficult in the life sciences market where the evolution of the skills base with the arrival of new cell and gene based therapies, has driven demand for engineers, researchers, quality control professionals and scientists as the industry continues to boom.
When it comes to recruitment this gives candidates quite a bargaining power advantage. They have a choice of organisations to work for and remote working has opened up a world of possibilities- literally! To meet attract talent in this sellers’ market organisations need to ensure as a baseline that salary and benefits are very competitive but this alone does not suffice. Offers need to be compiled and presented more holistically and should highlight how the role can meet the individuals work life balance and longer term career aspirations. Employer brand too is very important and organisations must position themselves as an organisation of choice paying careful attention to their diversity, inclusion, community, social and sustainability efforts.
Proactive recruitment is necessary in order to have a constant flow of candidates in the talent pipeline as are strong links to third level education institutions for priority access to new graduate talent. This approach works very well when taken in conjunction with other proactive talent strategies such as internal training and development initiatives. Creating new opportunities for those internally helps to stem the talent bleed while backfilling with new talent adds the latest skills and new insights to the pool. In a growth industry recruitment and retention are compatible companions.
Widening the talent pool with new entrants is vital so that organisations do not find themselves in a cycle of recycling the same talent around the industry, spiralling costs to an unsustainable level and ultimately impacting Ireland’s competitive landscape in this sector. This starts at the root encouraging more children to pick STEM subjects and to opt for careers in life sciences but should also include driving inclusion initiatives that enables entrants from a wider audience. International recruitment may also provide a shorter term solution to complement these longer term initiatives and life science organisations should ensure they are equipped to source internationally but also to support relocation locally.
Overall there has never been a better time to be a part of the life sciences industry. Organisations need to take a longer term approach to talent, even though there are immediate and short term problems, by working on their employer brand, their value proposition, proactively recruiting and developing their own skilled employees through training and investment. For life sciences businesses there is no doubt that there is a significant challenges in terms of talent but overall the industry is going from strength to strength and has security at a time when nothing is certain.
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