Predicting the consequences of a crisis you are still in the middle of is a difficult task. But the need to understand the current reality of COVID-19 and the likely effect it will have on the future of the Life Sciences industry is vital for businesses seeking first to survive and second, to plan their resurgences.
This piece draws on analysis from major subsectors of Life Sciences and recruitment-specific insights gathered internally to provide a holistic understanding of where the industry sits right now, and what the likely picture will be in the future.
The Commercial Sector
At the time of writing, we haven’t received word of any sales teams being stood down. The communication has been forward thinking with a healthy dose of pragmatism as organisations view their sales functions as the future drivers of regrowth when a semblance of normality returns.
On the ground, ‘holding pattern’ is the term being used to describe the state of play. Sales meetings are being conducted virtually, but of course, significantly reduced, bringing with it understandable frustration to sales teams who fundamentally enjoy the interaction with their clients.
Marketing have rolled out new e-detailing aides to support their sales teams and find new ways to enter customer consciousness without the usual educational events or advisory meetings.
Our UK partners are telling us loud and clear that strong digital marketing expertise is and will remain a highly sought-after skillset for businesses looking to add marketing talent. It remains unclear how Sales and Marketing in our sector will be affected post-restrictions. But with significantly reduced travel budget and expenses, early indications suggest market share will remain largely unchanged as long as supply can continue uninterrupted.
The Clinical Research Sector
There is cautious optimism that monitoring will recommence in Australia and New Zealand in the near future. Our Pharma MedTech clients point to the imminent return of elective surgeries as a strong indicator of this. Our CRO clients are reporting pipelines full of proposals, the success of these remains in question as the true knock on effect of organisational links to Europe and the US is felt and analysed.
The R&D tax grant as well as a robust and relatively unscathed Australian healthcare system gives the clinical research sector optimism that Australia is going be at the forefront of the global clinical trials resurgence.
The Manufacturing Sector
Consistent feedback from our partners in Manufacturing is painting a healthy overall picture, particularly in the FMCG, OTC & Complementary space. The challenge for the sector remains the logistics around raw materials sourced from overseas and is expected to impact in August.
There is a long-term political drive to consider increasing local manufacturing, but the feeling from the sector is that Australia will be competing against other nations also keen to ensure to develop their own manufacturing. On that basis, it is expected to be a very difficult task to convince global companies to relocate their manufacturing facilities here.
What We Are Seeing From Candidates
In the 24 hours which followed the collective realisation of how seriousness COVID-19 truly was, we saw scores of candidates withdrawing from interviews and deciding not to progress with job opportunities, exhibiting an understandable aversion to risk.
Our experience of previous crises tells us that one of biggest challenges as we enter recovery will be the disparity between clients who need to recruit and candidates who want to stay put. In the past three days, we have noticed a growing quiet confidence amongst candidate’s interest in job enquires, mostly likely as a result of the decreased number of COVID-19 cases in Australia. In the long term we wonder what the long-term impact of remote working will be. Will it strengthen or weaken employee’s bonds to their team, their manager and in turn their employers?
An Economic Perspective on Hiring in Life Sciences
Based on our experience of the 2008 global financial crash (GFC) we have modelled some predictions on the potential consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Back in 2008, multinational Pharma MedTech companies were the slowest to hit the pause button on recruitment and were one of the first sectors to recover. The pause in recruitment lasted approximately six months. If this pattern is repeated, we can expect recruitment processes to stop around the end of June, with confidence not likely to return until January 2021.
The future beyond 2021 will be unknown for some time. How will Governments grappling with enormous debt, balance this debt against the reimbursement of new medicines and devices? In the short-term, new headcounts will be difficult for managers to obtain unless business critical. Therefore, we anticipate an increased move towards contracting. The IMF data is predicting Australia will grow again in 2021. However, we know from experience that the Life Science sector locally will be dedicated by the decisions made in the boardrooms of the USA, Europe & Asia.
My Insights
As a business owner and employer, I learned from the GFC the importance of strong client diversification and the challenge of maintaining morale and the importance of supporting people navigate uncharted territories when their worlds are turned upside down. I will continue to promote the virtues of evolution and adaptation in how we do business as we emerge from this crisis. I am confident we, like our clients and candidates, will take the lessons we have learned, ready to carry us into our new future.
Finally, the 2020 On Q Annual Salary and Job Satisfaction Engagement Survey will be live in early June, so in the interim if you have ideas or information, now is a great time to reach out to us.