Background
Scottish Life Science companies today face a number of
challenges and opportunities. The industry is up against increasing
international competition, particularly in relation to emerging
markets, as competitor countries such as China and India expand
their healthcare spending, drug development and biotechnology
sectors. As Scottish companies look toward expansion and innovation
to compete successfully, there is also an increasing demand for
more sophisticated skills in the sector, particularly for people
with a combination of specialist science and business management
skills.
And one organisation that is very aware of these issues is the
Life Science Industry Advisory Board (LiSAB). LiSAB is an
industry-led partnership which is responsible for promoting growth
of the life science sector in Scotland. It is made up of
representatives from across the spectrum of the life science
community: CEOs and senior managers from pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics companies; research
organisations; Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands
Enterprise, the Scottish Government, Universities and the NHS.
Two recent activities are specifically worthy of mention -
research into current issues in the sector and an event to promote
career opportunities in the sector.
The Event
Skills Development Scotland, working closely with SEMTA, the
Sector Skills Council which covers life sciences, organised a
careers event in Glasgow's Science Centre in February 2011. This
provided the opportunity for businesses in the life science sector
to outline career opportunities and to highlight the attributes and
skills that they sought in new recruits.
The event was attended by careers and guidance advisers,
schools, colleges and universities. It was endorsed by the Scottish
Stem Cell Network Chief Executive, Kevin Price, who said:
"Scotland holds a world-leading position in life sciences,
particularly in stem cells and regenerative medicine. We need
people to make life sciences a career choice so companies have
local talent from which to recruit. That's why careers information
events which raise awareness of the sector, such as this one, are
so important."
At the event, representative employers from across the life
science disciplines in Scotland such as pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology and medical instrumentation gave presentations to
delegates. Participants also had the opportunity to hear from life
science modern apprentices and graduates who have recently entered
the industry. They outlined what led them to study science and
pursue a career in one of Scotland's key growth sectors.
Brian Humphrey, SEMTA's Scottish Manager explained:
"This is one of a number of initiatives we
are developing with our partners to enable much closer dialogue
between employers and skills providers. We want to raise the
profile of the sector as a potential career path for young people,
and for those who are influencing the skills agenda to understand
its importance to the Scottish economy."
The Research
The Scottish Life Sciences Employer Skills Survey 2010 was
designed to provide LiSAB with robust up-to-date labour market
information at sub-sector level to help inform successful delivery
of the Life Sciences Skills Strategy. It took a strong
collaborative approach with all key partners closely involved in
the survey design and in helping to ensure a good response
rate.
The employer survey involved 156 telephone interviews with life
science organisations in Scotland conducted by independent
researchers. This was complemented by face-to-face interviews with
employers, following up specific issues raised in their response
and exploring potential solutions.
The headline results from the survey are:
- Attracting appropriately skilled staff is a challenge for
employers in the sector. But securing external funding and
diversifying or expanding business activities are currently bigger
challenges for the sector.
- Over two-thirds of Scottish employers in the life science
sector had recruited someone in the last 12 months. Nearly one
third had recruited from outside Scotland in the last 12
months.
- Around a quarter of vacancies in the sector were described by
employers as hard-to-fill. Most vacancies were hard to fill because
applicants lacked the necessary skills, qualifications and
experience (that is, they were skill shortages).
- Most employees in the life science sector are considered fully
proficient at their job by their employers. But one in eight
employees are considered not fully proficient.
- The largest skills area in which a gap was reported was general
business or commercial skills (73%) followed by general science and
technical skills (49%). Biological and medical science was also
mentioned by a third of organisations.
- Over four-fifths of life science companies had funded or
arranged training for their employees in the past 12 months,
including on and off the job training.
Most life science organisations had implemented some kind of
formal skills utilisation practice. However, some key practices
such as incentives/performance pay, profit sharing, formal surveys
and quality circles, were less widespread, especially among smaller
organisations.
Impact of Skills Shortages
For life science companies with hard-to-fill vacancies, the
impacts were severe. Around three-quarters of such companies stated
an impact, with most saying that skills shortages had a major
impact. The main impacts related to:
- hampering innovation;
- delaying the introduction of new technology;
- loss of business to competitors;
- difficulties meeting expected levels of customer service or
quality standards; and
- increased cost.
In such a high technology sector, it is apparent that the impact
of skills shortages is severe.
Conclusion
The Scottish Government's Economic Strategy has identified Life
Sciences as a key sector. Through collaboration and innovative
research methods, partner organisations across Scotland have
identified current issues in the sector. More importantly, the
partners are engaging with employers to agree improved approaches
to tackling these issues.
A careers event may seem like a simple first step. But it
provides a practical example of collaboration in action,
highlighting the job opportunities which exist in this key
sector.
Gill Blair, Strategic Relations Manager for Life and
Chemical Sciences, Skills Development Scotland.
Sharon McKendry, Life Sciences Priority Industry Team Manager,
Scottish Enterprise.
Download this article (pdf, 430kb)