Facing up to the skills shortage a Hays UK perspective Viewpoint careers advice blog

Facing up to the skills shortage â€" a Hays UK perspective There is an urgent need to resolve talent shortages in the life sciences industry, if the UK is to retain its standing as a world-leading centre of excellence. Counter intuitively, one solution to the talent shortage is for employers to promote global mobility. This encourages organisation’s high performers to stay with their employer, facilitates knowledge transfer and better equips candidates to become the leaders of the future. In this episode of our global mobility series, we explore how an active strategy of global mobility can sustain employers’ talent pipelines. The flow of talent into the UK’s life sciences sector has fallen The life sciences sector is a specialized field of employment underpinned by a ready supply of highly skilled candidates. For some time the sector has fallen short of attracting the optimal amount of suitably skilled talent required to meet the industry’s evolving demands. Advances in technology, underlying knowledge, changes in funding and operating structures are transforming the way the life science business is done. Some areas are performing well and meeting their skills requirements. These include high profile professional vacancies, such as for medics, pharmacists and vets, which are readily filled. In other skills areas, such as IT development and information systems, roles are often left vacant for months at a time. While the government has put its weight behind protecting the UK’s global leadership by investing in various initiatives, which you can read about here, the need for a longer-term grass roots approach is evident. Increasing sustainable candidate flow into the talent pipeline As a leading professional recruitment group, both in the UK and globally, Hays has an important role to play in supporting a sustainable flow of skills into the life sciences market. In the short term, this is about the effective use of talent attraction tools, including optimal deployment of social media and face-to-face networking. But Hays also works to address the underlying causes of the skills shortage and to free up conditions that currently impede the influx of needed talent. Mark O’Brien, Director of Hays UK Life Sciences, comments: “Reports like the recent Hays Life Sciences Salary Guide and Market Overview 2014 allow us to create and form debate on this issue and to partner with pivotal organizations, like the UKTI (United Kingdom Trade and Investment) and the CBI (Confederation of Business and Industry), further bringing the issue of skills shortages in the UK life sciences industry to the fore.” A compelling case to meet short-term demands through global mobility As it stands, skills shortages offer top talent more opportunities than ever. Consequently, retaining star performers has also become more challenging than ever. A counter intuitive but highly effective step for UK employers to take may be to move talent around the globe. Employers could consider global mobility initiatives as an opportunity to excite and engage and retain their existing high performing employees. Grant Weinberg, Europe, Asia and Middle East Director for Talent Acquisition at Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company with 6,000 employees across five continents, agrees that the business case for global mobility within organizations is compelling: “In the long term, as these individuals progress through the organization and grow into multinational roles, they are better prepared to deal with the business demands and pressures associated with global organizations.” He says that internationally experienced leaders are well respected, more successful and, ultimately, stay longer with their employers. This has to be good for business, particularly in an industry where skills shortages are so prevalent. Internal hires also encourage management development and knowledge transfer where specialized skills are thin on the ground. Finding a sustainable skills balance There are no easy answers to meeting the current skills shortage across the life sciences sector, either in the UK or globally. We believe passionately in encouraging dialogue and debate on the subject, with a view to establishing sustainable solutions. In the short term, we see the uplift in global talent mobility as meeting an important need. Over the longer term, we see the need for promoting education and dialogue that will carry the pharmaceutical industry and its satellite organizations into greater security and prosperity. This is reflected in the findings of the Hays Global Skills Index 2014 in which our CEO, Alistair Cox reflects upon the growing labour pressures and an increased demand for skilled workers: “There are no quick fixes and conditions in global labour markets will probably get worse before they get better, but we have to act now. Governments must take the long-term view and ensure immigration policy and employment legislation is sensitive to employer needs. Businesses, in the meantime need to take responsibility for developing the future workforce and work hand-in-hand with education providers to develop tomorrow’s talent pool.” Are you interested in the skills debate? If so, we’d love to hear from you. For a comprehensive insight into the UK recruitment landscape, read the  Hays Life Sciences Salary Guide and Market Overview 2014  and to search our current vacancies please visit our  website.  Stay up to date with the latest news across the globe by joining our LinkedIn group,  Life Sciences Industry Insights with Hays and follow us on Twitter  @HaysLifeScience.