A report from Cpl Life Sciences and labour market data analysts Vacancysoft says the UK is leading the way in Europe for clinical vacancies in life sciences. Meanwhile Contract Research Organisations (CROs) is the sector leading the charts, up 68.9 per cent on 2021.
The report has found 2022 remained consistently steady for the life sciences industry in Europe. When reviewing annual numbers, the report’s yearly forecast shows that vacancies could reach around 13,684 by the end of 2022, a year-on-year growth of 9 per cent compared to 2021. However, the most notable change for vacancies within life sciences in Europe occurred in 2021, with vacancy numbers up 72 per cent on 2020. Contract Research Organisations (CROs) are expected to account for almost 69 per cent of vacancies by the end of 2022, the largest slice of the scientific clinical vacancy share.
Yvette Cleland, CEO of Cpl UK, said: “Overall, trends show a move toward adopting emerging technologies to discover drugs, adapting existing scientific techniques to find new therapeutic approaches within the RNA field, and decentralising clinical trials.”
The UK leads the way in terms of hiring activity by country, with 1,538 jobs year-to-date for CROs. It is predicted that the UK will achieve an estimated 1,846 new jobs by the end of 2022. This is lower than the 2,027 recorded in 2021 and would translate to a year-on-year drop of -9 per cent, compared to the 119 per cent uplift in 2021.
Vacancies in the Pharma sector show the UK also took the top for scientific clinical jobs, registering almost 600 jobs to date. However, we predict the UK to experience a drop of 19 per cent compared to 2021, when numbers accelerated upwards by approximately 98 per cent.
The numbers for scientific clinical jobs in the Pharmaceutical sector show that Clinical Management roles top the table, with 552 vacancies expected by the end of 2022. These numbers have already surpassed 2020. However, they represent a year-on-year fall of -23 per cent compared to 2021, when vacancy numbers shot up by 195 per cent.
Clinical Operations is the next best performer and the fastest growing role, with around 535 vacancies predicted by the end of 2022, constituting a year-on-year growth of 36.5 per cent compared to 2021.
