Key trends emerging include:
August
2018 was a peak month for vacancies across the
EU27, with volumes reaching the highest point since February.
Vacancies for Quality Control remain the biggest area of hiring within QA roles, with volumes up 30% on last year.
Overall, 20% of all posted vacancies are located in Germany, which means it remains the largest market in European pharmaceuticals with activity up 7% year on year.
Other key snapshots include:
– When analysed by country, Belgium and Switzerland have seen significant increases in activity this year so far
– By sector, whilst still small by comparison to others, proportionately there has been a big uplift within biotechnology
– GSK is a company to watch, with hiring up by over 100% on last year for regulatory professionals.
With the UK now about to leave the EU, the pressure on procurement and supply chains is likely to intensify shortly, as businesses re-organise to the new paradigm.
Also factor that in a recent survey of Chief Procurement Officers by Deloitte, 51% of leaders believe their current teams do not have sufficient skills and capabilities to deliver on their procurement strategy.
Within large pharmaceuticals companies, hiring for procurement professionals has actually been falling. What has been driving this change?
Key take-aways:
The UK has seen steady growth in medical affairs positions since 2016, with the average for vacancies in 2018 so far rising 14.2% from 2017, and figures rising 13.2% in 2017.
It is worth noting that when looking across continental Europe, growth has outpaced that of the UK, with vacancies up 27% in Benelux and 41% in Germany for example.
Whilst the UK has had the most medical vacancies for Q1 2018 to what extent will the UK’s pharmaceutical industry manage to continue this trend if there is a hard Brexit?
Key take-aways:
Overall, scientific vacancies in the pharmaceutical industry across the EU (including the UK) rose 21.8% from 2016 to 2017, showing encouraging signs for the industry.
However while vacancies for scientific roles in the EU overall have risen year on year since 2016, intriguingly they have dropped proportionately in the UK, dropping to 31.2% in 2017, and to 29.3% in 2018 so far.
In comparison to the UK, the Netherlands has shown a steady increase in scientific vacancies between 2016 and for 2017, rising by 33% making it one of the fastest growing regions.
Key take-aways:
– Scientific vacancies in the sector were up 9.9% year on year.
– Overall, over 72% of all posted vacancies were located in South East, East and London regions, with Oxford had the fastest growth across the combined regions.
– R&D is now the single largest area of scientific hiring, with volumes up 19.6 year on year.
