According to the latest Life Sciences Labour Market Trends report by CPL and market data analysts Vacancysoft, key recruitment trends show that in 2022, there were over 4,100 new scientific vacancies published in the ‘Golden Triangle’ (Cambridge, London and Oxford). This translates to a slight decrease from 2021, when there were over 4,500 jobs, resulting in a year-on-year fall of 9.1%.
The beginning months of 2024 have shown a decrease in recruitment compared to the post-pandemic boom seen in 2021-2023. Despite a dip in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Australian legal market experienced robust growth over the following years.
At a time when the sector has been depressed by the cyclical downturn due to quantitative tightening, this has led to a drop of 34.8% in London and 19.4% regionally. Within law firms, real estate remains the top skill in demand, although its market share has slipped from 22% in 2022 to 18% in 2023. This is partly due to a hefty 37% fall in vacancies in this area in 2023 as the commercial property sector has slowed down.
The biotech sector has been on a downward trend this year, with vacancies down 34% in 2023. With that, the first quarter saw the highest concentration of job postings, tallying 351 vacancies. Indeed, January and March were the top two months in 2023, with 131 and 123 vacancies respectively. This is according to the latest Life Sciences Labour Market Trends report by CPL and market data analysts Vacancysoft.
While 2023 has seen significantly lower levels of recruitment for clinical-specific functions, the forecast for 2024 is bullish, with the immediate projection being for two times more clinical vacancies in 2024 than in 2023.