recruiting retaining a competitive workforce
TRANSCRIPT
1 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce
Spotlight on: European employers 2014
Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce Pharma, biotech and medical devices
2 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 3
Introduction
Methodology
Employer perceptions and their impact on recruitment and retention
The commercial environmentThe recruitment market Recruitment trends and challengesTailoring the employer propositionThe international questionPaying attention to retentionConclusion
Salary and market trendsClinical OperationsResearch & DevelopmentQuality AssuranceRegulatory Affairs Pharmacovigilance & Drug SafetyMedical AffairsHealth Economics & Outcomes Research Business Intelligence & Data/BiometricsSales & MarketingMedical CommunicationsOperations
Contents
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MethodologyThis report is based on the European results of our worldwide employer survey, conducted with over 200 leading pharma, biotech and medical devices organisations from across the world. Participants ranged from small start ups and SMEs, to some of the world’s largest pharma and medical devices companies.
Further industry insight is based on the perceptions and experiences shared by European pharma, biotech and medical devices companies at our series of roundtables, held across the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The roundtables were attended by senior decision-makers, including representatives from leading organisations. Addressing the key themes raised by employees across the industry in 2013, our roundtables explored the impact of changing employee expectations, together with the impact of an increasingly competitive and global marketplace as organisations look to build sustainable workforces.
IntroductionThe pharma, biotech and medical devices sectors continue to face significant change. Increased competition, tightening regulations and increased global expansion are all impacting salaries, benefits and the ability of organisations to build sustainable workforces.
In this report we explore how organisations are managing the changing expectations and perceptions highlighted by employees in our 2013 report; from increased market confidence and willingness to move jobs, to an increasingly migratory talent pool. We also examine employers’ drivers for the future, together with how organisations plan to recruit and retain talent.
Drawing on insight from our global employer survey, series of international roundtables and the experience of our network of dedicated recruitment specialists, this report looks at the factors affecting employers across the industry and helps to understand what companies need to do to recruit and retain a competitive workforce.
6 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 7
As we look at the recruitment and retention trends impacting the pharma, biotech and medical devices sectors across Europe, we explore the commercial environment and its impact on organisations across the industry. By first understanding the commercial motivations of firms for the year ahead, we can further examine the impact on supply and demand of talent as organisations look to build sustainable workforces for the long-term.
With that in mind we asked pharma, biotech and medical devices organisations from across Europe what their main commercial objectives were for the next few years. Unsurprisingly, we see increasing market share as the main objective for both organisations across the pharma & biotech (70.8%) and the medical devices sectors (73.1%).
This may, in part, be reflective of the fact that the top 10 pharma organisations still account for less than 50% of the global pharma market, despite the series of large mergers and acquisitions seen over the past decade. What is evident across the sector is an increasing desire for organisations to increase their share of the market, and not just the big pharma companies but a rising number of smaller biotechs who have seen growing opportunities to increase their foothold in the industry – both across the domestic markets and within the emerging markets.
As organisations aim to secure greater market share we see increasing diversification, particularly as big pharma looks to compensate for the loss of exclusivity on many of the
blockbusters following the patent cliff. With less than five drugs reaching ‘blockbuster’ status in the last few years it appears the days of reliance on a single product may be reaching an end. In fact as the market sees growth across diagnostics and a number of firms moving into devices, many organisations are broadening their portfolios in order to not only maintain but to extend their market share. It therefore comes as no surprise that organic growth is a key objective for nearly a third (30.6%) of the pharma & biotech organisations we spoke to.
The continued impact of the patent cliff has also meant generics have continued to see high growth, not just across Europe but also across markets such as Japan, where increased cost efficiencies are driving their use. As pharma & biotechs look to maximise the growth seen across emerging markets organisations are having to diversify and develop lower cost products to meet the needs of patients in these developing economies. Medical devices organisations continue to lead the way in this regard and have already shown an increasing ability to adapt and manufacture low cost products specifically for these regions. So much so that new product development has become a key commercial objective for 61.1% of pharma & biotech organisations and 69.2% of medical devices organisations.
With ambitious plans in place there is no doubt there will be a significant impact on organisations’ recruitment and retention strategies as they gear up to maximise their market.
Intentions to recruit
Examining the medical devices sector we see that 84.6% of organisations are either definitely looking to recruit or are considering it in 2014. With five of the ten largest medical devices markets located in western Europe; Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain, and growth in the largest markets expected to continue at an average annual rate of 1.6% until 2018, it perhaps comes as no surprise that medical devices organisations are looking to bolster their workforce with a view to achieving their long-term commercial objectives.
Across the pharma & biotech sector we see a similar picture, with levels of employer market confidence mirroring those of medical devices organisations. As a result 83.3% of organisations are either considering or definitely planning to recruit in 2014.
A confident market
In early 2013 we spoke to thousands of pharma, biotech and medical devices professionals throughout Europe, to understand their motivations for the year ahead and their perceptions of the job market. Confidence was particularly high in the Netherlands where almost 95% (94.1%) of employees said they had no real concerns surrounding job security. The Dutch were not alone in this feeling of general confidence though. In fact, across Europe we saw confidence reach its highest level than at any time in recent years with 85.4% of people saying they had no real concerns for their job security, and 16.5% of respondents even going as far as to say they were ‘very confident’.
One employer reflected this mood at our UK roundtable when they said they had seen a distinct shift in employee confidence over the past year.
A participant in Belgium suggested that in the light of organisational changes seen across the sector, employers have extended the scope and remit of employees’ roles and as a result employees have taken on larger roles than ever before, and now feel indispensable to some degree. He even went as far as to say ‘Look at my role, I do the job of four people, so naturally I feel very secure in my job.’
What we saw emerge last year was a distinct perception that employees felt safe in their current jobs and felt they had a good platform from which to seek their next role. Considering that in 2013 almost three quarters (74.1%) of European employees were either ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to look for a new role in the 12 months ahead, we asked organisations whether they had seen this intention translate to employees leaving and whether there had been an associated impact on the talent available.
The commercial environment The recruitment market
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
70.8
55.6
31.9 30.6
38.9
61.1
13.9
20.8
73.1
42.3
34.6 34.6 34.638.5
69.2
15.4
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
Increase market share
Increase competitiveness
Protect market share
Expansion through organic
growth
Expansion through merger or acquisition
Expansion into new international
markets
Expansion into new disciplines
e.g. medical devices/biologics
Develop new products
What are your commercial objectives/goals for the next 3 years?
Are you looking to recruit over the next 12 months?
YesNoMaybe
YesNoMaybe
Medical Devices
26.9%
15.4%
22.2%
Pharma & Biotech
16.7%
61.1%
57.7%
% 4 out of 5 organisations plan on bolstering their workforce to meet their commercial objectives in the next year.”
8 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 9
Areas in demand
As organisations look to increase their market share and improve market competitiveness through broadening their portfolios, it follows suit that the development of new products is high on the agenda of both pharma & biotechs and medical devices organisations. What’s more with organisations facing the increasing challenges of being able to move quickly and successfully launch new products, we see a direct impact on demand for talent across a number of key disciplines.
Quality Assurance was tied as the most popular area for pharma & biotech companies recruiting in 2014, with 43.2% of respondents saying this was a particular growth area. This growth was not limited to just the pharma & biotech sector though. We also saw 46.7% of medical devices organisations focusing their recruitment activity in this area.
This growth is to be expected as it’s driven largely by the continued tightening of EU regulations. With allegations over the last few years of ‘significant and systemic’ quality control failings, we have also seen organisations come under greater scrutiny by the FDA, which has led many companies to invest significantly in QA.
Similarly a series of high profile product scares within the medical devices industry has also led the industry to tighten its guidelines which has created increased demand across the discipline.
Sales and Marketing is an area facing significant change and companies are evolving these functions to enable them to adapt to meet changes in the market, so much so that sales and marketing was tied with QA as the key focus for 43.2% of pharma & biotech organisations in 2014.
As firms have moved away from the traditional sales force structure, we have seen the sales and marketing function evolve as organisations now face multiple new routes to market. This has included the growing direct-to-consumer
market, where we have already seen communication between patients and many pharma, biotech and medical devices organisations growing which has been impacted by the growth of consumer focused strategies.
As consumers become more proactive in how they manage their health, patients have also become much more influential. With a culture increasingly centred around social media this is having a significant impact on organisations. On the whole companies appear to have been slow to react to new communications channels such as these but many regard it as a key driver for the future.
Regulatory Affairs was the number one growth area for 53.3% of medical devices organisations and a key area for
pharma & biotech organisations, across Europe (40.9%). This growth is largely to be expected as
medical devices firms look to not only release new, innovative products but to extend
the reach of their existing product lines. Tightening regulations across the medical devices sector, bringing it more in line with the pharma & biotech sector have also driven this growth exponentially, and we have seen demand for regulatory affairs specialists within medical devices rise as a result.
The outsourcing trend seen over recent years has also continued to build
momentum across regulatory affairs, with the pharma CRO outsourcing market estimated
to be worth $40.5 billion in 2014. In fact, according to research, 68% of Europe’s pharma organisations were outsourcing at least part of their regulatory affairs function in 2013 and with many processes such as medical writing, regulatory data management and regulatory information management ideal for outsourcing many organisations are following suit. All of which has led to a variety of resourcing options for organisations looking to strengthen this area.
A shallower talent pool?
Given that motivation to move roles was very high in 2013, less than a fifth of organisations across Europe felt this had been reflected in the market; a feeling that was shared across both pharma & biotech (19.5%) and medical devices (19.2%). This suggests that whilst the intention to consider a new role was strong, in reality this has translated to a lower proportion of people actively entering the job market than anticipated. The fact the almost half of all medical devices companies (47.2%) and pharma & biotech organisations (50.0%) actually felt the available talent pool had stayed the same when compared to the previous year, directly contradicts what we saw employees saying last year.
Somewhat surprisingly almost a third of both pharma & biotechs (33.3%) and medical devices organisations (30.8%) felt the size of the available talent pool had actually decreased, and that their recruitment plans have been directly impacted. We explore in subsequent sections of the report how organisations are facing this challenge.
How likely are you to look for a new role in the next 12 months? European employee perspective 2013
In the past 12 months do you think the available talent pool has:
DecreasedIncreasedStayed the same
DecreasedIncreasedStayed the same
Pharma & Biotech
19.2%Medical Devices
How confident do you feel about your job security? European employee perspective 2013
Growth disciplines:•Quality Assurance•Regulatory Affairs•Sales & Marketing•R & D
Very confidentNeither confident nor worried
Very concerned
Quite confidentQuite concerned
44.5%24.4%8.6%6.0%
Extremely likelyUnlikely
LikelyExtremely unlikely
36.3%37.8%20.5%5.4%
16.5%
19.5%
33.3%
30.8%
50.0%
47.2%
10 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 11
Research and development also featured high on the list of growth areas for our panel, with 34.1% of pharma & biotechs and 46.7% of medical devices companies planning on recruiting in this area in 2014. R&D has faced a big mountain over recent years, with the patent cliff and the restructures that have occurred throughout Europe, however, with a renewed strategic focus we are beginning to see R&D growth accelerate once more.
Although in November 2013 Fitch Ratings said it expected R&D to continue to show restraint with regards to spending, it acknowledged that most cuts had already been made. Indeed our research showed that for almost half of the organisations in our panel, change had already occurred and investment in R&D is likely to increase in 2014. This optimism is shared across the industry with early indications showing new investment may take the sector some way to achieving the value seen in 2011, when European R&D spend across pharma was worth an estimated EUR 29 billion.
Which disciplines are you recruiting for?
34.1
25.0
31.8
43.240.9
29.5
9.1
43.2
25.0
18.2
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
46.7
26.7
46.7
53.3
33.3
20.0
6.7
13.3
20.0
40.0
R&
D
Clin
ical
O
per
atio
ns
Qua
lity
Ass
uran
ce
Pha
rmac
ovig
ilanc
ean
d dr
ug s
afet
y
Reg
ulat
ory
Affa
irs
Med
ical
A
ffairs
HE
OR
Bus
ines
s In
telli
genc
ean
d D
ata
Sal
es &
M
arke
ting
Ope
ratio
ns
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
%
The balance between contract and perm
Although 40.0% of those medical devices firms ‘definitely’ looking to recruit are opting to bring in talent for the long-term and are focusing solely on permanent hires, we are also seeing an increasing tendency for organisations across the medical devices sector to take a blended approach to recruitment. In fact, over half of our European medical devices panel (53.3%) said they would be looking to recruit on both a permanent and contract/interim basis in 2014.
The changing landscape across the medical devices sector perhaps goes some way to account for the adoption of this approach, which means that organisations can build strategic teams for the short, mid and long-term. It also allows organisations to secure talent and intellectual property for the future, whilst adding extra flexibility and allowing organisations to scale their workforce, as and when projects demand. By doing so employers can keep fixed headcount costs low which is clearly a benefit during periods of change.
Across the pharma & biotech sector we see a slightly different picture. Whilst we see similar levels of employer market confidence and plans to recruit (83.3% of organisations are either considering or definitely plan to recruit in 2014), we see a preference for permanent talent. In fact, over half (54.5%) of organisations looking to recruit in 2014 intend to focus only on permanent recruitment.
With competition fierce across a number of disciplines and talent in short supply, we also see an increasing preference for organisations to on-board new permanent talent quickly in order to lock in talent and prevent future skill gaps. We also see organisations reviewing their retention policies in order to safeguard their organisation’s best people. This is particularly pertinent considering that 74.1% of people in 2013 said they were likely to look for a new role.
That being said, demand for contractors remains steady as firms look to build flexibility into their organisations. Whilst only 4.6% of pharma & biotech organisations are planning to recruit on a contract basis alone, we see continued interest in adopting a blended approach with 40.9% looking to recruit on both a permanent and contract basis.
If the intent to recruit over the next year, whether on a permanent or contract basis, translates into action we could see a potential re-emergence of the war for talent, not just within Europe, but globally. As demand rises we anticipate shrinking talent pools, and as a result salaries will grow over the next few years.
40.9%
Perm onlyContract/interim onlyBoth
Pharma & Biotech
54.5%
4.6%
Perm onlyContract/interim onlyBoth
40.0%
6.7%
Medical Devices
On what basis are you looking to recruit?
53.3%
To find out the impact of sector changes and a changing industry landscape on supply, demand and salaries across each discipline please refer to the salaries and market trends section of this report.
12 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 13
The question of money
It will come as little surprise to some that increasing salary and bonus expectations topped the list of factors employers felt were impacting their recruitment and retention strategies, with half (50.0%) of all pharma, biotech and medical devices companies stating they have seen rising expectations – both within their existing workforce and when attracting new talent.
However, despite seeing a rise in expectations first hand and even though 88.6% of pharma, biotech and medical devices employees in 2013 considered salary the most critical factor when looking for a new job, salaries do not appear to be a key concern for organisations when recruiting. In fact only a quarter (25.0%) of pharma & biotech organisations felt their ability to compete on salaries and benefits was a concern
for the future. Whether this is reflective of rising employer confidence surrounding the strength of their financial packages, or a sign of tacit acknowledgement that although salary is a key factor, sometimes an organisation’s hands are tied in terms of what they are able, or willing, to offer has yet to be determined.
Our European events would seem to indicate the latter, as we saw in the UK when one participant commented: ‘We know we often can’t compete on salary, so we look at our strengths and what we can compete on instead. For us it’s our training programmes and our culture of development.’
In Germany, our panel highlighted that salary and benefits are not always necessarily the answer to attracting the right talent, nor retaining them: ‘Sometimes it doesn’t come down to salary
When recruiting which of the following trends have you seen?
Recruitment trends and challenges
50
40
30
20
10
0
40.3
30.8 30.8
50.0
42.3
46.2
42.3
34.7
43.144.4
47.250.0
Incr
easi
ng p
ool o
f in
tern
atio
nal t
alen
t
Incr
easi
ng n
umb
er o
f co
ntra
ctor
s av
aila
ble
Incr
easi
ng s
alar
y an
d
bon
us e
xpec
tatio
ns
Incr
easi
ng e
xpec
tatio
ns
surr
ound
ing
wor
k/lif
e b
alan
ce a
nd
flexi
ble
ben
efits
Lack
of s
kille
d
pro
fess
iona
ls o
n th
e m
arke
t
Incr
ease
d c
omp
etiti
on
for
the
bes
t p
eop
le
%
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
When recruiting what challenges/issues does your organisation face?
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
51.4
4.2 4.25.6
48.650.0
25.0
8.3
18.1
44.4
12.5
3.8
7.7
65.4
50.0
46.2
34.6
26.9
19.2
30.8
19.2
0.0
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
%
Lack
of
loca
l tal
ent
Com
pet
ition
for
loca
l tal
ent
from
ab
road
Com
pet
ition
for
inte
rnat
iona
l tal
ent
Com
pet
ition
for
bes
t ta
lent
Lack
of s
kille
d
tale
nt a
vaila
ble
Ab
ility
to
com
pet
e on
sal
ary
and
fin
anci
al b
enefi
ts
Ab
ility
to
com
pet
e on
fle
xib
le b
enefi
ts/t
rain
ing/
com
pan
y cu
lture
Ab
ility
to
com
pet
e b
ased
on
emp
loye
r re
put
atio
n/b
rand
Targ
etin
g th
e rig
ht p
eop
le
Man
agin
g th
e re
crui
tmen
t p
roce
ss
Non
e –
we
don
’t ha
ve a
ny c
halle
nges
and winning talent on this basis. It’s more important that the person understands what we are able to offer and looks at the value of that, alongside the financial package on offer, so that they are bought into the company and are not just with us for the money.’
For over a third (34.6%) of our European medical devices panel the ability to compete based on financial packages appears to be more of a concern though. As a result we see more employers taking measures to address this concern, with 30.8% of organisations planning on increasing salaries in order to compete for talent. This rise in salaries may be driven in part by the increasing need for medical devices organisations to compete with other industries for talent. For example in Germany we see firms struggle to attract the required numbers of engineers due to high level of competition seen from sectors such as automotive and aerospace, where salary is proving influential.
Similarly, with tightening regulations surrounding medical devices, we are seeing the medical devices sector moving more in line with the pharma & biotech sector, increasing competition for QPs and quality assurance professionals. This is placing additional pressure on what many organisations already consider a limited pool of talent and as medical devices look to compete with pharma & biotech organisations in some areas salaries are being driven up.
It’s clear that firms that fail to adequately benchmark their financial packages and consider the rising expectations of employees could struggle when it comes to effectively attracting and competing for talent.
14 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 15
How important are the following factors when looking for a new role? European employee perspective 2013
Work/life balance and flexible benefits
It’s not just expectations surrounding salary and financial packages that are rising though; according to 43.1% of pharma & biotechs and 42.3% of medical devices organisations expectations surrounding work/life balance and flexible benefits are also on the increase. In fact medical devices organisations ranked this change in expectations as the third biggest factor affecting the recruitment market.
At our UK roundtable one participant reiterated this when they said: ‘People now want a work/life blend. It’s about how the two fit together and work in harmony. That means bringing flexibility into the organisation which can be hard’.
This trend reflects the perceptions shared by employees across the industry in 2013, when 62.0% of employees considered flexible working either ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ when looking for their next role. In Germany our roundtable participants highlighted that offering flexible working in the form of home working can be advantageous to the company, particularly if they are based in locations that may not be a prime attraction.
One participant said ‘We offer home working to everyone from the start. In the past our office location has proved a drawback when looking to attract the best talent and we’ve found that by offering more flexibility we can widen our choice of people. If our people spend less time commuting it also means they have more time for their work which benefits us.’
At our UK roundtable though one participant highlighted the potential restrictions of home working policies; ‘We went too far the other way and gave people too much freedom to work from home. We found that as a small, growing organisation we needed people to be closer. Change is happening rapidly and we need to remain close knit to ensure everyone is working towards the same commercial objectives.’
Despite varying opinions on the best way to manage a flexible working policy employers are still confident about this area of their offering. Over half (58.3%) of pharma & biotechs and half (50.0%) of medical devices companies considered one of their strengths to be their ability to offer a good work/life balance and flexible working. Reflecting on the criteria employees in 2013 deemed ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to their job search, we see that for almost two thirds (62.0%) of employees work/life balance and flexible working were considered key. The fact that a number of organisations consider their offering in this area to be strong suggests that employers are adapting their proposition accordingly.
Rising expectations surrounding work/life balance and flexible benefits are impacting over 40% of organisations.”
SalaryLocationFlexible workingBenefit packageBonusOpportunities for career progressionCompany cultureScope of role/projectsJob security
*Based on respondents who considered factor ‘important’ or ‘very important.’
88.6%
80.0%
62.0%
61.2%
54.2%
78.6%
81.6%
75.1%
68.8%
16 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 17
What are your strengths when recruiting?
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
50.0
58.3
22.2
18.1
40.3 40.3
30.8
50.0
15.4
23.1
46.2
53.8
%
Offe
r co
mp
etiti
ve
finan
cial
pac
kage
Offe
r go
od w
ork/
life
bal
ance
and
flex
ible
w
orki
ng
Kno
w w
here
to
look
to
find
the
b
est
tale
nt
Suc
cess
fully
ou
tsou
rce
recr
uitm
ent
Offe
r go
od L
&D
an
d c
aree
r d
evel
opm
ent
opp
ortu
nitie
s
Str
ong
emp
loye
r b
rand
/des
irab
le
pla
ce t
o w
ork
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
Lack of local talent and the availability of skilled talent
With competition for talent considered one of the main challenges for organisations across Europe, it perhaps comes as little surprise that almost half of all organisations feel there is a lack of available skilled talent (50.0% pharma & biotech and 46.2% medical devices), and in particular a lack of local talent (51.4% pharma & biotech and 50.0% medical devices). Whether it is the case that employers’ expectations and the skills being sought are unrealistic, or whether it is simply that the talent in the market can not meet the growing levels of demand has yet to be determined.
When we look at how companies plan on combating this lack of talent, we see that companies are turning their attention internally with over half of all pharma & biotech organisations (56.7%) and almost half (46.2%) of medical devices organisations focusing on developing internal talent.
One employer at our UK event cautioned; ‘Don’t assume employees aren’t interested in progression just because they’re not the most competitive person. It’s about spotting those with high potential and nurturing them. If given the right opportunities they can then prove a long-term asset for the business.’ Our panel in France agreed, highlighting the value of ‘high performer’ schemes to identify top talent.
In disciplines such as quality assurance where experienced talent is at a premium we are also seeing organisations developing talent at the junior level in order to fill immediate skills gaps, whilst initiating clear learning and development programmes in order to build a pipeline of talent for the future.
With 78.6% of employees in 2013 considering career progression either ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ when considering a new role and a further 81.6% considering the scope of their role critical, employers cannot afford to neglect the internal development of their existing workforce if they plan on retaining them. Those organisations with clear internal development programmes stand to not only maximise the efficiency of their top performers and develop a workforce with well-rounded skill sets, but also to make themselves more attractive to new recruits.
This approach is already evident across some organisations. A leading, international organisation at our UK roundtable said; ‘Learning and development opportunities are a key part of our offering. We know career progression is important to the type of people we want in our organisation and we see their eyes light up during the interview process when we discuss our approach to developing employees. We offer good exposure across a range of disciplines, this means our attrition is low, and if we do lose talent it’s likely to be because of other factors.’
When recruiting what challenges/issues does your organisation face?
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
51.4
4.2 4.25.6
48.650.0
25.0
8.3
18.1
44.4
12.5
3.8
7.7
65.4
50.0
46.2
34.6
26.9
19.2
30.8
19.2
0.0
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
%
Lack
of
loca
l tal
ent
Com
pet
ition
for
loca
l tal
ent
from
ab
road
Com
pet
ition
for
inte
rnat
iona
l tal
ent
Com
pet
ition
for
bes
t ta
lent
Lack
of s
kille
d
tale
nt a
vaila
ble
Ab
ility
to
com
pet
e on
sal
ary
and
fin
anci
al b
enefi
ts
Ab
ility
to
com
pet
e on
fle
xib
le b
enefi
ts/t
rain
ing/
com
pan
y cu
lture
Ab
ility
to
com
pet
e b
ased
on
emp
loye
r re
put
atio
n/b
rand
Targ
etin
g th
e rig
ht p
eop
le
Man
agin
g th
e re
crui
tmen
t p
roce
ss
Non
e –
we
don
’t ha
ve a
ny c
halle
nges
18 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 19
What steps have you taken/do you plan to take to address your recruitment challenges? In addition to focusing on developing internal talent, 47.8% of pharma & biotech organisations and 42.3% of medical devices companies say they are now adopting ‘a more flexible recruitment policy’. A fifth (20.9%) of pharma & biotech organisations have said they would look for talent outside their industry/sector. An employer at our Netherlands roundtable commented; ‘Whilst we are looking at other avenues for recruitment, it often feels as if we are still looking for the proverbial “sheep with five legs”. We’ve therefore had to relax our criteria for new hires to some degree.’
The adaptation of employer propositions demonstrates an increasingly flexible approach by some organisations as they look to meet the demands of employees. With the emergence of a more demanding workforce, particularly generation Y employees, employers will need to continue to review and flex their offering if they are to remain competitive.
An employer at our Germany roundtable also highlighted the increasing expectation of their generation Y workforce for the organisation to adapt their offering to suit the individual’s specific needs. He commented; ‘We look to provide flexibility in our offering and to be responsive to our employees. The challenge is how to make sure individual arrangements are comparable and competitive with the external market’.
Competition
The threat of competition continues to be a key factor impacting the recruitment market, so much so that increased competition for the best people was the second highest factor affecting pharma & biotech organisations (47.2%), and was ranked joint third by medical devices companies (42.3%). It therefore follows that competition for the best talent was unsurprisingly at the top of the list of challenges for organisations across both pharma & biotech (48.6%) and medical devices (65.4%).
If we look at specific disciplines, including quality assurance and regulatory affairs, where demand remains high, we see a clear distinction between the talent sought by pharma & biotech, and medical devices organisations. Whilst some skill sets remain transferable between sectors, the nature of the roles and product portfolios have continued to make specialists with relevant sector experience crucial to many firms. Whilst it would appear to be a safe assumption pharma & biotech organisations are competing for the same talent, it is becoming apparent that whilst organisations may well be competing for people
with the same skill sets on paper, this isn’t as clear cut as it would first appear. In fact, our
roundtables across Europe indicated clear differences in the type of people
organisations are looking to recruit.
Our UK and France roundtables suggested that big pharmas are fishing from a different talent pool than smaller organisations and CROs, and that company culture and the scope of roles are proving key when
on-boarding the right talent.
One participant from a leading big pharma said; ‘We’re always looking for people for the
long-term. We’re not looking for ultra competitive individuals, but people that can fit a team culture
and have the commercial acumen to help progress the organisation.’ In contrast smaller pharma & biotechs and CROs are looking for competitive, ‘go-getters’ who will fit the highly commercial nature of their growing businesses.
Despite the differences in employee profiles, employers acknowledge that there are no hard and fast rules surrounding the people they recruit, and that the threat of competition from likeminded organisations remains a challenge as they look to recruit. As companies look to address this challenge we see their attention increasingly turning to their recruitment approach and employer proposition as they look to differentiate themselves as an employer of choice.
Competition for the best talent is the biggest challenge affecting over 45% of employers.”
Pharma & Biotech
Medical Devices
Look internationally for talent
Adopt a more flexible recruitment policy
Increase salaries
Extend benefit packages
Develop internal talent
Look for talent outside industry sector
Outsource recruitment
Nothing
17.9%
56.7%
20.9%
31.3%
47.8%
19.4%
22.4%
9.0%
Look internationally for talent
Adopt a more flexible recruitment policy
Increase salaries
Extend benefit packages
Develop internal talent
Look for talent outside industry sector
Outsource recruitment
Nothing
19.2%
46.2%
0%
34.6%
42.3%
30.8%
15.4%
7.7%
20 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 21
With more job opportunities in the market, specialists across a number of disciplines have found themselves in the enviable position of having multiple options and being able to demand more from their employer. It is therefore those companies able to offer the most competitive salaries, or with the stronger, more defined employer proposition that are able to compete more effectively.
Whilst almost a third (30.8%) of pharma & biotech organisations and a fifth (19.4%) of medical devices organisations say they plan on increasing salaries in order to address the threat of increasing competition, employer propositions are by no means based on salary and financial packages alone. Instead organisations are looking at how they can leverage their wider offering.
Over half (53.8%) of medical devices organisations considered their employer brand to be their strongest attribute when recruiting. In contrast only 40.3% of pharma & biotech organisations felt their reputation as a ‘desirable place to work’ was one of their core strengths. As we saw last year, when considering what constitutes their employer brand and offering, firms need to take into account more than just the strength of their name and reputation alone. Employer brands are built on both the perceptions of existing employees and the external market so every touchpoint of the recruitment and retention process needs to be considered.
For example, organisations are embracing their cultural differences and are using these as a way to attract talent. At our UK roundtable, participants from pharma organisations discussed how, as small growing organisations where change is rapid, it is easy to demonstrate to potential employees the potential growth and career development opportunities if they were to join the company.
Tailoring the employer proposition
What steps have you taken/do you plan to take to address your recruitment challenges?
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
%
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
Look internationally
for talent
Extend benefit packages
Increase salaries
Outsource recruitment
Develop internal talent
Adopt a more flexible recruitment
policy
Look for talent outside
industry/sector
Nothing
17.919.4
22.4
31.3
56.7
47.8
20.9
0.0
19.2
15.4
30.8
34.6
46.2
42.3
7.79.0
Our France roundtable echoed this sentiment with a participant from a biotech saying; ‘Working in a biotech or smaller organisation proves very attractive to some people. If they are looking for a broader role and a dynamic, challenging environment the culture of a biotech may well suit them better. By putting this at the heart of our recruitment proposition we can ensure we get the right people on board from the start.’ In contrast we see the big pharmas using the draw of the strength of an international and highly structured organisation to their benefit; promoting the full scope of their learning and development opportunities and the resources at the employees’ disposal.
In Belgium one panellist said; ‘We understand employee attitudes are different, particularly those of new starters and graduates. They aren’t planning to be in the company for life, it’s all about stepping stones and how they can develop during their time with us. That’s why when we recruit for these positions we promote a clear career path and show promotion opportunities and how these are linked to salary increases.’
As we saw in 2013 employees have higher expectations than ever and a ‘one-size-fits-all’ employer proposition is not enough if organisations are to compete for talent across a range of disciplines. A diverse talent pool means tailoring the employer position, understanding both the needs of potential and existing employees, and knowing which aspects of the employer offering will prove the most attractive and drawing these out effectively.
What are your strengths when recruiting?
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
50.0
58.3
22.2
18.1
40.3 40.3
30.8
50.0
15.4
23.1
46.2
53.8
%
Offer competitive financial package
Offer good work/life balance and flexible working
Know where to look to find the
best talent
Successfully outsource
recruitment
Offer good L&D and career
development opportunities
Strong employer brand/desirable place to work
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
22 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 23
How likely are you to recruit international talent?
The international question
As organisations across both the pharma & biotech and the medical devices sectors look to address the key challenges of scarcity of talent and competition, attention is increasingly turning to the international recruitment market as firms look to access a wider talent pool. The fact that over a third of both pharma & biotechs (37.5%) and medical devices companies (34.6%) are already recruiting international talent, or have
definitive plans to in the near future, is testament to some organisations taking an increasingly flexible approach to recruitment. What’s more with a further 25.0% of pharma & biotech organisations and 23.1% of firms across medical devices ‘considering’ sourcing talent internationally the picture emerging is of an increasingly global recruitment market.
If we look back to 2013 and the perceptions shared by employees across the industry, we see almost three quarters (74.2%) of European employees would be receptive to the idea of relocating internationally; indicating that employees’ and organisations’ expectations are becoming aligned. Looking outside Europe we also saw 89.7% of pharma & biotech and medical devices employees across South East Asia and 58.0% of US employees open to relocating. Of those 62.5% of South East Asian specialists and 39.3% of US specialists said Europe was an attractive option when considering locations.
This is a positive sign for those European organisations open to sourcing talent internationally. With organisations showing flexibility around which regions they would consider recruiting from there is clear potential for employers to access a worldwide pool of talent. Whilst Europe remains the region of choice for 93.3% of pharma, biotech and medical devices organisations, due mainly to the ease of relocation within Europe and the transferability of skills and experience, there is also keen interest in both US and Asia Pac talent. In fact, over half of pharma & biotechs and medical devices organisations would consider US talent (46.7% and 53.3%), and almost a third would consider talent from across Asia Pac (26.7% and 33.3%).
Likely - considering recruiting international talent
Likely - considering recruiting international talent
Certain- already recruiting international talent/plan to in the future
Certain- already recruiting international talent/plan to in the future
Pharma & Biotech
Medical Devices
Never- recruiting international talent is not an option
Never- recruiting international talent is not an option
Unlikely- not currently considering recruiting international talent
Unlikely- not currently considering recruiting international talent
We haven’t considered it
We haven’t considered it
37.5%25.0%6.9%27.8%2.8%
34.6%15.4%15.4% 23.1%11.5%
With interest in relocating internationally so high it would appear organisations may have their pick of talent, however, whether organisations can meet international employee expectations and adapt their offering in order to be competitive on an international basis is the question. We’ve already seen some organisations across France unable to match salaries on offer across Germany, Switzerland and the UK, which has resulted in a loss of talent in some areas. If organisations are to compete in what could become an international war for talent they will need review their offering accordingly.
With talent in high demand organisations must prepare for the fact that they could lose their employees to overseas competitors, particularly when we consider the high numbers of employees in 2013 who said they’d be willing to consider international opportunities. Retention policies are therefore more important than ever if firms plan to retain their best talent and safeguard their organisation’s competitiveness.
93.3%
46.7%
26.7%
Within EuropeUSAsia Pac
Medical Devices
Within EuropeUSAsia Pac
Pharma & Biotech
Where would you consider relocating? European employee perspective 2013
Which regions would you consider recruiting talent from?
93.2%
55.3%
40.6%
Within EuropeUSAsia Pac
33.3%
53.3%
93.3%
24 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 25
Drawing on international talent
When we look at the reasons firms are considering, or are already recruiting internationally, we see that a lack of local talent is indeed a key driver for 53.3% of medical devices organisations and 42.2% of pharma & biotech companies. Perhaps more significantly though 57.8% of pharma & biotechs view sourcing talent internationally not only as a way of addressing a shortage of local talent but also as a way to access a much wider pool of talent; effectively extending their options when it comes to the experience and skill sets they want to bring into the company.
In the UK, although initially surprised by the high willingness of employees to relocate, our roundtable said the close proximity of countries within Europe and the ease of movement between
countries means an international relocation within Europe isn’t as daunting for employees as it may first appear. They also welcomed talent from further afield; seeing it as an advantage to bring in people with international experience.
For 80.0% of medical devices organisations access to international experience is by far the biggest motivation for sourcing talent internationally. This is reflective of the greater demand for people with international and complex project and market experience, as organisations look to bring people on-board with the skills and experience to support expansion into new territories as companies look to capitalise on their existing product lines and maximise their market reach.
Why would you consider recruiting international talent?
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
%
57.8
44.442.2 42.2
8.9
4.4
33.3 33.3
53.3
80.0
20.0
13.3
Wider talent pool
Lower recruitment costs
Access to new skill sets
Lack of local talent
Unable to compete locally for talent
Access international experience
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
A lack of local talent is leading organisations to look internationally for talent.”
26 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 27
If not, why not?
Considering that over half of the organisations in our European panel felt a lack of local talent was a key recruitment challenge they faced, it’s worthwhile understanding why almost a third (30.6%) of pharma & biotechs and over a quarter (26.9%) of medical devices organisations felt they were ‘unlikely’ or would ‘never’ recruit international talent. For the medical devices organisations we spoke to the overwhelming preference for employing local talent (85.7%) underpinned the reluctance to look overseas, a feeling that was shared by 59.1% of pharma & biotech organisations.
This feeling aside though, it appears that some organisations remain cautious about the potential challenges of language barriers with 42.9% of medical devices firms and 36.4% of pharma & biotechs voicing concerns in this area. At our Germany roundtable we heard from some organisations who felt German language skills were critical; ‘My clients are all based in Germany, so I need German speaking employees’. But others disagreed stating; ‘English language skills are important in an international organisation such as ours where our business language is English, but ultimately I don’t care
where my employees are from, it’s about their ability to do the role. We also offer our employees language courses – both German and English so we should never see this as a prohibitive factor if they are the right person for the job.’
The other reasons for not recruiting internationally tend to focus on the apparent differences between regions and potential areas in which skills may be lacking; for instance a ‘lack of knowledge surrounding local regulations’ (31.8% pharma & biotech and 28.6% medical devices). The perceived cost of international recruitment also appears to be a concern for almost a third of organisations across the sectors.
Our panel recognised that in an increasingly global marketplace, with many organisations expanding into new territories, expecting all employees to speak one common language and have a common frame of reference has the potential to severely limit the impact of international talent on their company and them leave them potentially unable to compete globally.
Why are you unlikely to recruit international talent?
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
%
36.4
31.8 31.8
22.718.2
59.1
4.5
9.1
42.9
28.6 28.6 28.6
85.7
0.0 0.0 0.0
Language barrier
Lack of transferable
qualifications
Lack of knowledgesurrounding regulations
Cultural differences
Cost of recruitment
Unable to compete with international
salaries/benefits
Unsure where to look
Prefer to employ local talent
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
With almost three quarters (74.2%) of European employees in 2013 saying they would be willing to leave their current job for the right opportunity, retention has the potential to become a real issue for organisations across the industry.
Even with a backdrop of potential international migration, competition for talent and a workforce with increasingly high expectations and demands, it’s maybe surprising that a relatively low number of organisations we spoke to were either ‘concerned’ (15.3% pharma & biotechs and 11.5% medical devices firms) or ‘very concerned’ (5.6% and 3.8% respectively) about losing their best people. In fact, confidence across both sectors appears high with more than half of pharma & biotechs (55.5%) and medical devices organisations (53.9%) stating they are either ‘confident’ or ‘very confident’ about retaining their strongest talent.
Misplaced confidence?
The picture we see emerging is that this level of confidence is based on the level of movement organisations have seen over the past year. With 70.0% of pharma & biotechs and 64.3% of medical devices organisations stating their staff churn levels are low, we see again that talent movement has yet to reach its anticipated levels. However, employers should be cautious about using historic churn levels to predict their ability to retain their talent moving forward and should not assume no further actions are required to retain their best people.
Somewhat surprisingly, one of the main reasons companies feel retention is not an issue is that they feel their organisation ‘offers competitive salary/financial packages’ (57.5% pharma & biotech and 57.1% medical devices firms). This confidence could be misplaced though when we consider in 2013 just 18.3% of European employees said they were satisfied with their current financial package and this was the reason they were staying in their current role. This could perhaps suggest a major disconnect between what employees think they are worth and what employers think they are worth, which could have major implications for companies as the market becomes increasingly competitive. In fact, we saw the first signs of that disconnect last year when 88.6% of employees told us salary was the key factor in their decision making process when looking for a new role and would be their main motivation to leave.
This level of employer confidence surrounding salaries is not shared universally though. In fact, we see two groups emerging; those organisations who are demonstrating high levels of confidence in their ability to offer competitive salary and financial packages, and a second group who feel unable to compete with the salaries and benefits offered elsewhere, and as a result are concerned about their current ability to retain an effective workforce.
Paying attention to retention
Currently, how confident are you about retaining your best people?
Very confident
Very confident
Confident
Concerned
Neither confident nor concerned
Neither confident nor concerned
Confident
Concerned
Very concerned
Very concerned
45.8%23.6%15.3%5.6%
Pharma & Biotech
Medical Devices
7.7%46.2%30.8%11.5%3.8%
9.7%
28 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 29
Confidence surrounding organisations’ current ability to retain talent was not just focused around salary and financial packages though, in fact, many employers are confident about their offering across a number of areas, including offering competitive flexible benefits and work/life balance (55.0% pharma & biotech and 57.1% medical devices), training and development opportunities (47.5% pharma & biotech and 57.1% medical devices) and good promotion prospects (47.5% pharma & biotech and 42.9% medical devices).
One employer at our Germany roundtable highlighted; ‘In my opinion, retention is not centred around financial incentives alone. No one changes jobs just because he/she earns 200€ more somewhere else.’ Similarly one participant at our UK roundtable suggested: ‘People aren’t just leaving for salary but for a better scope of role and to acquire new skill sets. Work/life balance is also proving key’.
This shift in employer perceptions instils confidence that organisations are beginning to understand the full breadth of their employees needs and are adapting their retention policies accordingly.
Long-term confidence
Despite only 20.9% of pharma & biotechs and 15.3% of medical devices companies expressing concerns about their current ability to retain their best people, it would appear that organisations are more confident about short-term retention than they are about the long-term. This is particularly evident when we consider that 80.1% of pharma & biotechs and 53.9% of medical devices organisations anticipate that retention will either definitely or potentially be a concern for the future.
When we look further at the areas of concern around retention we see the ability to retain the best people tops the list for pharma & biotech organisations (81.0%) and is the second biggest concern for medical devices organisations (64.3%). This concern was mirrored by organisations at our European events and when we asked how our participants were addressing this we heard from our UK panel; ‘Companies are having to be more mercenary. They identify their top talent and spend time focusing on these people and their development. Of course there is always a balance though, between those we consider our top performers and the rest of our team who also have a key role to play in our organisation’.
For medical devices organisations it is once again the threat of competition and the ability to compete financially (71.4%) that is the biggest concern. As we saw earlier our European medical devices panel consider the ability to compete in this area as a key challenge, and we’ve seen medical devices organisations increasingly reviewing their financial offering, whilst examining their full proposition in order to strengthen their ability to compete.
Despite the concerns of some medical devices organisations, we still see almost half (46.1%) of employers across the sector stating that they do not consider retention a concern for the future. Again when we look at the reasons behind this confidence, we see organisations believe they have a strong offering with three quarters of companies (75.0%) saying they offer good training and career development, and have a good working environment and culture. And of those organisations confident about retaining their staff in the future, 66.7% believe they are offering competitive financial packages. This goes some way to suggest that those organisations that focus on providing competitive salaries and do not undervalue this aspect of their offering stand in good stead for the future.
36.1%
YesNoMaybe
Pharma & Biotech
44.5%
YesNoMaybe
30.8%23.1%
46.1%
Medical Devices
Do you think retention may be a concern in the future?
19.4%
Why are you confident about retaining your best people?
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
57.5
47.5
55.0
47.5
70.0
47.5
30.0
22.5
57.1
42.9
35.7
57.1 57.1
64.3
35.7
21.4
We offer competitive
salaries/financial packages
We offer good promotion prospects
We offer good international relocation
opportunities
We offer competitive
flexible benefits /work-life balance
We offer good training and development opportunities
We are an employer of
choice
Our staff churn levels are low
We have high employee
satisfaction levels
%
30 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 31
Pharma & biotech organisations appear to remain more cautious though with only 19.4% voicing they have no future concerns surrounding retention. However, unlike organisations across the medical devices sector this confidence is not primarily based on the strength of their offering, but the company ethos. In fact, a loyal workforce was the primary reason 71.4% of firms were confident about retaining their workforce in the future, followed closely by high employee satisfaction levels (64.3%).
When we asked employers what measures they’d put in place as part of their retention policy, we saw that almost two thirds of all organisations (66.7% pharma & biotechs and 65.4% of medical devices firms) are actively monitoring their employee satisfaction levels. Over half of our European panel (51.4% pharma & biotechs and 57.7% of medical devices firms) said they regularly review their employees and almost half (38.9% and 46.2%) regularly benchmark their salaries and wider financial packages. We are therefore seeing clear in-roads being made across the industry as organisations are focusing on their retention policies and wider employer satisfaction.
What do you anticipate your biggest areas of concern around retention will be?
100
80
60
40
20
0
%
81.0
25.922.4
55.2
27.6
8.6
64.3
71.4
35.7
14.314.3
7.1
Retaining the best people
Keeping the wrong people
Low morale Competition for talent - based on
financial packages
Competition for talent - based on culture, flexible
benefits etc.
International competition for
talent
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
As organisations across the pharma, biotech and medical devices sectors face an increasingly competitive environment, with factors such as global expansion, mergers & acquisitions and the patent cliff still impacting the industry, it’s clear that the next few years have the potential to be challenging.
The growing expectations of employees, combined with competition for international talent and perceived skills shortages means a strong employer proposition is more
important than ever before if organisations are to compete and build an effective workforce for the future. However, in a constantly evolving market only time will tell which organisations are able to adapt their offering accordingly and develop effective recruitment and retention strategies, and which organisations will struggle in the months and years to come.
Conclusion
Why are you confident retention won’t be a concern in the future?
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Pharma & BiotechMedical Devices
64.366.7
75.0 75.0
25.0
33.3
50.0
57.1
50.0
42.9
71.4
64.3
We offer competitive salaries/financial
packages
We offer good training and career
development opportunities
We offer a good working
environment and culture
We’re regarded as an employer
of choice
Loyal workforce We have high employee
satisfaction levels
%
32 The key to recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce
Salary and market trendsAs expansion, mergers, acquisitions and competition continue to affect the pharma, biotech and medical devices sectors we examine the impact on recruitment, retention and salaries. Providing detailed salary and contract rates, together with the latest industry insight, we explore the market trends within core disciplines.
Salary and contract rates quoted are based on Real’s placement data over the previous 12 months, together with the predictions from our recruitment specialists in each region. Permanent salaries quoted are gross average annual salaries, excluding bonuses and benefits and contractor rates are quoted on an average hourly rate. The salary rates quoted are indicative of the market only and salaries will vary depending on a company’s size, location, the sector and an employee’s qualifications, experience and responsibilities.
34 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 35
With the global outsourcing market continuing to grow at speed, the surge of outsourcing to CROs has continued across much of Europe. As a result the number of in-house clinical operations roles has decreased, although we have seen renewed demand for project and account managers to form small in-house teams to manage the outsourcing process.
As CROs go from strength-to-strength we have seen a number of new roles in this area. With in-house opportunities limited elsewhere we have therefore seen a number of professionals move into roles within CROs, despite previous reluctance to do so due to typically lower salaries. This may be due in part to the increased flexibility surrounding their offering we have seen from CROs. In Germany, we have seen a number of junior level professionals join CROs, attracted by the traineeships on offer as organisations look to on-board new talent and provide long-term career development opportunities.
Whilst the outsourcing trend continues to dominate the clinical operations function, there has been more ‘in-sourcing’ in some areas, including Switzerland, as organisations outsource less to the tiger economies. Driven by the drop in the Euro, organisations have seen less savings from outsourcing further afield and this no longer off-sets the complexity and cost of managing the outsourcing process. This change in focus has led to renewed demand in some areas of clinical operations, which is starting to push up salaries once more.
Experienced Clinical Research Assistants (CRAs) remain in high demand throughout Europe and faced with a limited talent pool, organisations are battling tough international competition for the best talent. Salaries have been driven up significantly as a result. In Germany we have seen organisations adapt their recruitment processes as they look to on-board CRAs quickly, to avoid missing out.
As firms look to secure a pipeline of CRAs we’ve seen demand rise for Clinical Trials Assistants (CTAs). However, in the UK, there has been an increasing trend for CTAs to progress into regulatory affairs, rather than clinical operations. Organisations are therefore faced with the challenge of encouraging talent down the clinical operations route and we are seeing the packages on offer increase as a result.
Organisations are not just looking to compete for talent on financial packages alone though, across Switzerland we are seeing organisations develop their full employer offering, which
in some cases has included more options for flexible working and the inclusion of language courses. Similarly, in Belgium, employers are examining the scope of the roles on offer, together with their career development opportunities as they look to attract the industry’s best talent.
On the whole the clinical operations market across pharma & biotech has remained stable throughout Europe, with
pockets of high demand seen in some areas. In addition to CRAs and CTAs, clinical operations
specialists with global and/or complex project experience are highly sought after. Across
Europe there is demand at all stages of the product cycle; in the UK, there has been a surge in demand for pre-clinical specialists and scientists as organisations are going back to the development stage for new products, following the failure of some new products to reach the market as expected. In Switzerland, where a number of phase III projects are coming to the fore, particularly
within oncology, people with experience in this area continue to be in demand. In
contrast, in France, demand has slowed for people across phase II – III, instead shifting to
post-authorisation and phase IV specialists as the demand for real life studies increases as pharma &
biotech organisations look to report back on new products.
Whilst demand for clinical operations specialists is also high across the medical devices sector there has been little transition of talent between the sectors due to the highly specialised nature of the roles. With increasing legislation surrounding medical devices, heightened by a series of recent health scares, there is a renewed focused on clinical trials in order to achieve new criteria to bring products to market. Specialists with an engineering background are highly sought after and as organisations look to bring in talent from other industries we have seen salaries rise. The skills shortage seen across the medical devices sector has also compounded the strength of competition for talent.
Across both pharma & biotech and medical devices permanent talent remains the preference of many employers as they look to build sustainable teams. Excluding the areas of peak demand, permanent salaries throughout Europe have remained stable on the whole. Contract rates remain somewhat higher than their permanent equivalents in many regions, but have stabilised.
Whilst the previously high rates and buoyant contractor market had attracted a number of specialists to go freelance, across Germany there has been a marked shift in contractors seeking permanent roles as the number of contractors now outnumber the number of roles available. This is a trend reflected throughout Europe as we see the split between permanent and contract reach equilibrium once more.
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Clinical Director 80,000 120,000 110,000 130,000 155,000 110,000
Clinical Operations Manager 55,000 80,000 80,000 80,000 142,000 85,000
Clinical Operations VP 130,000 135,000 120,000 120,000 188,750 135,000
Clinical Programme Director 100,000 110,000 115,000 100,000 135,000 115,000
Clinical Project Director 82,500 106,000 115,000 125,000 178,000 125,000
Clinical Project Manager 54,000 60,000 60,000 74,063 123,680 60,000
Clinical Research Associate I 31,000 38,000 40,000 45,840 85,000 38,000
Clinical Research Associate II 35,000 39,500 45,000 52,000 91,000 42,500
Clinical Study Manager 55,000 65,000 70,000 68,520 114,000 72,000
Clinical Trial Administrator 30,500 35,000 37,000 38,000 73,600 38,500
Clinical Trial Co-ordinator 32,000 47,500 40,000 45,000 82,000 48,500
Clinical Trials Manager 47,000 60,000 63,000 50,875 122,500 60,000
Feasibility Manager 45,000 60,000 60,000 45,000 122,500 60,000
Senior Clinical Project Manager 63,500 80,000 87,500 92,500 142,300 90,000
Senior Clinical Research Associate 42,500 42,000 55,000 53,000 99,800 52,500
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Clinical Director 85 - 90 82 - 88 120 - 150 120 - 150 156 - 164 100 - 115
Clinical Operations Manager 65 - 70 81 - 89 95 - 105 95 - 105 127 - 133 90 - 100
Clinical Project Director 85 - 95 120 - 140 114 - 126 110 - 130 156 - 164 95 - 125
Clinical Project Manager 60 - 65 70 - 85 70 - 85 75 - 90 127 - 133 70 - 85
Clinical Research Associate I 40 - 45 40 - 45 54 - 59 45 - 55 102 - 108 50 - 65
Clinical Research Associate II 45 - 50 42 - 47 50 - 70 50 - 60 102 - 108 60 - 70
Clinical Research Director 81 - 90 77 - 87 86 - 95 110 - 130 156 - 164 85 - 150
Clinical Research/Study Manager 60 - 65 64 - 72 79 - 87 70 - 85 98 - 103 85 - 100
Clinical Trial Administrator 20 - 25 28 - 34 57 - 63 35 - 40 107 - 113 50 - 60
Clinical Trial Co-ordinator 24 - 28 43 - 49 76 - 84 38 - 42 98 - 103 65 - 75
Clinical Trials Manager 75 - 80 75 - 90 85 - 95 75 - 90 102 - 108 75 - 95
Feasibility Manager 52 - 60 75 - 90 85 - 95 95 -105 112 - 118 85 - 95
Senior Clinical Operations Director 85 - 90 90 - 100 95 - 105 130 - 150 156 - 164 90 - 110
Senior Clinical Project Manager 65 - 75 80 - 90 81 - 89 80 - 95 127 - 133 95 - 115
Senior Clinical Research Associate 50 - 55 54 - 62 71 - 79 55 - 70 104 - 115 65 - 85
Clinical Operations
Clinical O
perations
Clinical operations specialists with global and/or complex project experience are highly sought after.”
36 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 37
Following a series of restructures and the downsizing of many R&D functions across Europe last year, we are now seeing the market stabilise. Pharma, biotech and medical devices organisations now have a renewed strategic focus for their R&D operations and this is translating to pockets of growth in some areas. Whereas salaries were curbed by the redundancies taking place we are now seeing salaries begin to rise once more, albeit slowly.
Within pharma organisations there has been a rise in demand for manufacturing and product specialists, particularly at the research level. In Switzerland, we are seeing particularly high demand for chemists, biologists and production chemists. This demand has been driven in part by the increasing number of FDA approvals for biologic products, which has opened the door for other organisations to follow suit.
In turn, this has led to an increase in outsourcing to Contract Manufacturing Organisations (CMOs) as organisations look to investigate new products and wish to expand production capabilities without increasing overheads. This has resulted in a number of new opportunities for R&D specialists within the CMO space, and has also created new demand for project managers and co-ordinators to manage the outsourcing process. However, whilst the number of jobs has increased, the available talent pool has remained the same leading many organisations to inflate salaries as they look to attract the best talent.
For organisations unwilling or unable to increase salaries further, particularly in Switzerland, there has been a rise in the implementation of educational programmes and apprenticeships as companies are keen to on-board people
Research & Development
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Chief Medical Officer 140 - 170 125 - 140 90 - 100 120 - 150 190 - 210 90 - 100
Chief Scientific Officer 50 - 70 95 - 110 95 - 105 110 - 140 137 - 144 90 - 100
Clinical Scientist 30 - 40 58 - 62 69 - 77 67 - 74 88 - 92 60 - 70
Director of Therapy 95 - 130 85 - 110 95 - 105 114 - 126 132 - 138 95 - 115
Drug Discovery Project Leader 50 - 60 64 - 68 67 - 74 76 - 84 107 - 113 67 - 74
Drug Discovery Scientist 20 - 25 48 - 52 62 - 68 62 - 68 88 - 92 65 - 80
Epidemiologist 48 - 53 55 - 75 60 - 80 70 - 85 107 - 113 60 - 80
Medical Expert 70 - 95 88 - 92 73 - 81 95 - 105 107 - 113 80 - 100
Project Assistant 20 - 25 36 - 40 36 - 40 38 - 42 78 - 82 36 - 40
Project Manager: R&D 60 - 70 75 - 85 81 - 89 80 - 90 117 - 123 85 - 100
R&D Director 90 - 110 93 - 103 90 - 100 115 - 130 156 - 164 85 - 100
R&D Manager 50 - 70 86 - 95 76 - 84 90 - 105 132 - 138 85 - 100
Scientific Operations Director 60 - 70 90 - 100 90 - 100 120 - 150 156 - 164 90 - 100
Senior Research Physician 65 - 75 75 - 90 81 - 89 100 - 120 107 - 113 85 - 100
Senior Study Co-ordinator 45 - 50 64 - 66 70 - 80 50 - 60 98 - 103 70 - 80
Study Manager 50 - 55 70 - 85 81 - 89 70 - 85 98 - 103 80 - 90
Trial Co-ordinator 35 - 45 50 - 52 45 - 55 38 - 42 107 - 113 45 - 55
Research &
Develop
ment
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Chief Medical Officer 155,000 150,000 150,000 170,000 245,650 170,000
Chief Scientific Officer 155,000 135,000 115,000 160,000 266,300 120,000
Clinical Scientist 42,000 64,531 55,000 57,000 133,489 60,000
Director of Therapy 100,000 90,000 95,000 130,000 155,000 85,000
Drug Discovery Project Leader 38,000 58,000 60,000 68,000 112,100 57,500
Drug Discovery Scientist 52,000 49,000 47,500 50,000 120,900 48,500
Epidemiologist 67,500 80,000 75,000 90,000 126,410 80,000
Medical Expert 105,000 72,500 65,000 75,000 190,060 70,000
Project Assistant 29,000 28,000 35,000 35,000 71,000 35,000
Project Manager: R&D 60,000 65,000 65,000 92,500 114,000 65,000
R&D Director 80,000 100,000 110,000 120,000 146,222 115,000
R&D Manager 47,500 80,000 85,000 85,000 132,650 92,000
Scientific Operations Director 105,000 90,000 97,000 120,000 141,650 99,000
Senior Research Physician 55,000 75,000 71,000 78,000 155,400 78,000
Senior Study Co-ordinator 42,500 55,000 50,000 45,000 96,000 45,000
Study Manager 52,500 65,000 68,000 70,000 113,240 78,500
Trial Co-ordinator 32,500 45,000 45,000 38,000 91,550 65,000
early at a lower cost, instead providing extensive training programmes. Firms that do so though run the risk of losing valuable talent if they are not engaged with the employees at the completion of their training programmes. This once again emphasises the importance of retention strategies.
As the medical devices sector continues to grow with the development of new, innovative products R&D engineers and quality engineers remain in high demand. With a limited number of engineers in the market, competition for the best people remains fierce and organisations continue to struggle to compete with other sectors for the right talent. The automotive sector is a particular threat to organisations within Germany, and employers have had to adapt their offering to compete effectively for engineers. With that in mind though, organisations have been unwilling to inflate
salaries and contract rates, instead developing roles that offer a broader scope and promoting their products in order to entice people into the company.
With high expenditure seen in R&D across the medical devices sector, as firms look to build a continuous pipeline of new products, opportunities within the discipline look strong. And with growth across Europe expected to continue at an estimated 1.6% per annum between 2014 and 2018, it is clear that the sector should be seen as a long-term career path for R&D specialists with the right skills.
38 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 39
Demand for quality assurance professionals has continued to rise across pharma & biotech, driven largely by the continued tightening of European regulations, combined with the focus on FDA audits which has led organisations to scale up their quality assurance (QA) functions. We are also seeing increasing demand across QA within medical devices following a number of product scares which has resulted in tightening regulations moving the sector more in-line with the pharma & biotech sector. Enhanced knowledge of the QA process is therefore highly sought after and we are seeing more flexibility within the medical devices sector, particularly within the Netherlands, as organisations turn to the pharma sector to secure QA talent with transferable skills.
Whilst the trend to bring previously outsourced QA teams back in-house we saw last year has continued to some extent, we have seen continued outsourcing as confidence has been restored around the quality of work outsourced. There has also been an increase in outsourcing to Contract Manufacturing Organisations (CMOs) as organisations look to benefit from cost efficiencies. This is presenting new jobs in the market, many of which are fixed project opportunities for contractors due to the project based nature of the work.
In Belgium, firms are using QA to optimise production and improve manufacturing processes, and with organisations looking for increasingly innovative production processes as a way of improving cost efficiency there is further investment in the QA function which is driving demand for talent.
Similarly, with organisations looking to capitalise on a pipeline of new products and enter new markets quickly, Qualified Persons (QPs) remain in high demand and, as we saw last year, due to a limited number of newly qualified QPs entering the market we
have seen intense competition for the best talent. As a result salaries have been driven up. However, that being said we have seen some organisations looking to keep salaries stable by taking on less experienced QPs or attracting talent through increasing the scope of roles and reviewing their existing benefits packages.
It’s not just salaries that are encouraging organisations to take on more junior level QPs though. With increasing pressure on QPs to take more risks, employers are looking for people that are less risk adverse, able to handle greater responsibility, deal with pressure from all sides of the business and who are willing to adapt and respond quickly to market changes.
With demand for QPs high throughout Europe, we are now seeing more international competition for talent, but it’s not just the threat of international competition that pharma & biotech organisations should be conscious of. With the implementation of regulations stipulating compulsory QPs within medical devices just a year away, the requirement to bring QPs on-board is very much on the radar of many medical devices organisations, and with a small existing talent pool these organisations are gearing up to compete with pharma & biotech organisations in this area. Experienced QPs with transferable knowledge will therefore be at a premium. Similarly across the medical devices sector we are already seeing salaries rise at a faster pace in some areas as organisations increasingly look to attract specialists with a pharma background.
International competition for talent has presented a particularly challenging market for France, as organisations have been unable to match the salaries offered in regions such as Germany, Switzerland and the UK and have lost talent as a
result. However, whilst there is a lot of talent movement across Europe, language barriers are still limiting movement in some areas. In Switzerland, for example, German language skills remain a key requirement for many organisations, making Germany an obvious pool of new talent on which to draw from.
This international competition for talent is not just limited to demand for QPs though. The sector has seen increasing demand across the full QA discipline, including demand for professionals across validation and compliance where there is a continued shortage of talent. QA consultants with a focus on QMC are in particular demand within the UK, as are pharma specialists with experience within the FMCG sector.
In the UK, where there is a wealth of QA talent at the lower levels we are seeing pharma & biotech firms are reluctant to inflate salaries to secure more senior people, instead they are choosing to bring talent on-board at a lower level and provide training opportunities. This is also the case in France, where talent is limited and organisations have had to turn their attention to less experienced people in order to plug the shortfall. In the UK, organisations are also introducing international development plans to bring on new international talent, whilst reducing recruitment costs.
As firms look to secure talent for the most sought-after roles across all sectors we have seen both salaries and contract rates rise across Europe. With contract roles continuing to command higher rates than their permanent equivalents we have seen a shift between perm and contract talent in some regions. In both the UK and Switzerland there has been an increasing number of permanent employees moving into contract roles, attracted by
the rates on offer and the perceived flexibility. With marketconfidence high and ongoing demand for contractors, employees appear more confident than ever about finding their next contract. This reflects the high level of confidence in job security we saw across the board last year.
This level of market confidence has been bolstered by the high level of demand QA professionals are seeing for their skill sets. Many people are now finding themselves in the enviable position of receiving multiple offers, from a range of employers. This rise in confidence has led many employees to apply for more roles, and whilst many employers have seen a rise in applications as an opportunity to select from a wider talent pool they should bear in mind that candidates may also be being considered at a number of other organisations and that competition remains as high as ever. In fact, in Switzerland, we’ve seen organisations adapt their recruitment processes in order to bring new talent on-board quickly.
Although competition has continued to inflate salaries and rates across the discipline, by no means are organisations competing on pay alone. We’re seeing many of the smaller pharma & biotech organisations attract talent by offering roles with more responsibility, wider scope and opportunities for development. Similarly we are seeing a number of the larger pharma companies examine their offering, including defining clear routes of career progression within their organisations. Whilst in the UK the scope of roles are being broadened in some cases, in Switzerland some of the big pharma companies are creating more specialist roles and are splitting roles based on skills and the volume of work.
Quality Assurance
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Compliance Manager 46,218 60,000 80,000 55,000 116,500 65,000
Engineer 37,000 40,000 50,000 62,500 102,560 47,500
Head of Compliance 70,000 80,000 79,000 95,000 146,850 75,000
Head of Quality Assurance 75,000 90,000 91,000 120,000 220,000 95,000
Head of Quality Control 60,000 80,000 87,000 88,000 135,000 83,500
Manufacturing Quality Engineer 37,500 46,000 48,000 58,000 109,850 58,500
Product Quality Engineer 34,000 46,000 50,000 60,000 93,100 54,500
Qualified Person 62,500 90,000 90,000 90,000 165,000 80,000
Quality Assurance Manager 50,000 65,000 65,000 68,248 114,000 72,500
Quality Assurance Officer 30,000 40,000 52,000 42,500 93,500 50,500
Quality Auditor 40,000 55,000 62,500 90,000 124,500 50,000
Quality Engineer 40,000 47,000 52,000 58,000 115,200 50,000
Senior Quality Specialist 42,500 68,000 59,000 80,000 124,500 63,500
Validation Consultant 42,500 42,000 52,000 60,000 117,500 46,800
Validation Engineer 35,000 44,000 50,000 55,000 111,650 50,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Compliance Manager 50 - 60 71 - 81 75 - 85 85 - 100 107 - 113 81 - 89
Engineer 30 - 45 47 - 57 60 - 75 70 - 85 93 - 97 48 - 53
Head of Compliance 50 - 65 85 - 95 80 - 95 110 - 120 112 - 118 81 - 89
Head of Quality Assurance 85 - 100 86 - 122 85 - 95 115 - 135 146 -154 114 - 126
Head of Quality Control 40 - 56 86 - 122 85 - 95 110 - 120 117 - 123 114 - 126
Manufacturing Quality Engineer 35 - 42 62 - 73 65 - 70 75 - 90 98 - 103 71 - 79
Product Quality Engineer 33 - 38 62 - 73 65 - 70 80 - 100 93 - 97 71 - 79
Qualified Person 85 - 140 80 - 110 100 - 150 115 - 135 117 - 123 95 - 105
Quality Assurance Manager 65 - 85 80 - 110 80 - 110 100 - 110 117 - 123 100 - 110
Quality Assurance Officer 25 - 35 45 - 60 45 - 60 45 - 60 98 - 103 45 - 60
Quality Auditor 45 - 60 75 - 85 75 - 85 76 - 84 107 - 113 75 - 85
Quality Engineer 44 - 55 62 - 73 50 - 75 70 - 85 117 - 123 71 - 79
Senior Quality Specialist 50 - 65 80 - 100 80 - 100 115 - 130 107 - 113 100 - 110
Validation Consultant 40 - 52 60 - 70 50 - 75 86 - 95 127 - 133 81 - 89
Validation Engineer 40 - 60 57 - 62 50 - 75 76 - 84 132 -138 67 - 74
Quality A
ssurance
40 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 41
As the pipeline of new products generated off the back of the patent cliff have started to reach the market, demand for regulatory affairs specialists within the pharma & biotech sector across Europe has grown significantly. This pipeline has been bolstered not only by a number of new generic products but also a rise in the number of biologics entering the market, following a rise in FDA approvals. Similarly, within medical devices there has been rising demand for regulatory affairs specialists as firms look to not only release new, innovative products but to also expand the reach of existing product lines through entering the US market and therefore require additional resources to gain the necessary approvals.
There have also been some significant shifts in the industry as a whole, with small biotechs being bought up by some of the larger pharmas. In the UK these mergers and acquisitions, both across pharma & biotech and the medical devices sector, have led to redundancies at all levels in some areas. Similarly, in France mergers and acquisitions have led to an increasing number of qualified specialists re-entering the job market.
However, with a declining number of long-term contract roles on offer we are seeing a surplus of talent who are left with limited options. As a result we have seen these people either looking for opportunities elsewhere in Europe, or in some cases considering a career move. Elsewhere, including Switzerland, organisational change has included splitting roles to become more specialist which has resulted in organisations adapting their structures and processes.
As restructures take place there has been an increasing reliance on contractors to provide short-term support, which has led to a number of new jobs. These new opportunities, together with the attractive rates on offer and the perceived benefits of more flexible working, has led to an increasing number of people looking to move into the contract/interim market. This is particularly evident in France, where the
contract market has grown significantly from the demand seen last year. It’s not just contract opportunities that are being created by this period of organisational change though, in some cases full new senior management teams are being brought on board which has driven demand at the very senior
level across regulatory affairs. Demand for permanent employees remains high across organisations looking
to build sustainable teams for the long-term.
In addition to restructures and M&As, the outsourcing trend seen last year
has continued to gain momentum. Outsourcing to CROs has resulted in some regulatory affairs in-house teams becoming defunct in the UK, however, this is bringing increasing opportunities for those willing to work in the commercial environment of the CROs and also a rise in the number of project management roles as firms look
for people to manage the outsourcing process. Outsourcing has included
disciplines such as publishing, CMS and maintenance work. Whilst organisations are
utilising the skills of third party suppliers across Europe, there is also an increasing reliance on
providers within the emerging markets, including areas within Asia Pac as firms seek to reduce their costs.
As firms look to manage third party relationships globally and look to extend product lines to new territories, people with global experience are highly sought after throughout Europe – particularly within smaller organisations where the scope of roles is often much broader. Those with this experience are often able to command higher salaries as a result.
Whilst organisations are looking at financial packages to attract the best talent, on the whole rates are fairly stable throughout Europe. Instead firms are evaluating their employer proposition and tailoring their offering. For example in the UK we have seen increasing flexibility around home working, sign on bonuses and a renewed focus on scoping out clear routes for career progression. Similarly, in Germany organisations are looking at the range of additional benefits on offer, and in some cases are offering to cover relocation costs in order to bring in the right talent.
Regulatory Affairs
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Head of Regulatory Affairs 115,000 130,000 100,000 102,000 140,000 125,000
Regulatory Affairs Associate 36,000 50,000 50,000 47,500 96,850 50,000
Regulatory Affairs Director 100,000 90,000 95,000 120,000 160,000 100,000
Regulatory Affairs Manager 63,000 75,000 75,000 75,000 120,800 70,000
Regulatory Affairs Pharmacist 32,000 54,000 55,000 55,000 90,520 50,000
Regulatory Associate Director 88,000 85,000 110,000 110,000 140,000 104,000
Regulatory Principal Officer / Regulatory Project Manager
58,000 67,000 70,000 85,000 110,400 65,000
Regulatory Publisher 36,000 47,500 50,000 50,000 90,100 50,000
Regulatory Publishing Manager / Operations Manager
60,000 60,000 75,000 70,000 100,000 70,000
Regulatory Senior Manager 73,000 85,000 85,000 90,000 128,550 82,000
Regulatory Senior Officer 57,000 65,000 65,000 80,000 103,000 60,000
Regulatory Senior Publisher 52,000 52,000 55,000 58,000 87,500 60,000
Regulatory Writer 40,000 42,500 45,000 50,000 96,840 45,000
Senior Director Regulatory 105,000 110,000 130,000 135,000 175,000 135,000
VP Regulatory 145,000 135,000 140,000 160,000 185,000 140,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Head of Regulatory Affairs 75 - 90 140 - 175 120 - 150 110 - 125 180 - 250 100 - 125
Regulatory Affairs Associate 45 - 50 40 - 60 40 - 60 40 - 50 90 - 109 40 - 60
Regulatory Affairs Director 80 - 100 120 - 180 110 - 150 130 - 150 180 - 200 100 - 125
Regulatory Affairs Manager 60 - 75 88 - 92 80 - 110 80 - 95 100 - 170 85 - 115
Regulatory Affairs Pharmacist 30 - 40 55 - 65 60 - 80 70 - 90 100 - 140 70 - 90
Regulatory Affairs Writer 48 - 53 64 - 70 40 - 60 60 - 80 75 - 110 70 - 85
Regulatory Associate Director 68 - 72 100 - 120 120 - 150 110 - 125 156 - 164 100 - 120
Regulatory Principal Officer / Regulatory Project Manager
54 - 56 70 - 75 80 - 100 85 - 100 100 - 140 65 - 75
Regulatory Publisher 49 - 51 48 - 52 40 - 50 70 - 90 127 - 133 65 - 75
Regulatory Publishing Manager / Operations Manager
58 - 62 67 - 73 40 - 50 80 - 95 120 - 170 85 - 95
Regulatory Senior Manager 63 - 67 85 - 94 80 - 110 90 - 110 120 - 170 95 - 110
Regulatory Senior Officer 49 - 51 65 - 70 60 - 80 85 - 100 136 - 144 55 - 65
Regulatory Senior Publisher 60 - 70 60 - 65 40 - 50 90 - 110 75 - 110 70 - 85
Senior Director Regulatory 78 - 82 130 - 150 100 - 120 130 - 150 160 - 190 115 - 135
VP Regulatory 97 - 103 150 - 190 120 - 150 130 - 150 205 - 230 115 - 125
Demand for permanent employees remains high across organisations looking to build sustainable teams for the long-term.”
Regulatory A
ffairs
42 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 43
Demand for permanent employees remains high across France and Switzerland.”
Following a number of health scares and increasingly stringent regulations, pharmacovigilance is firmly at the centre of many pharma & biotech organisations’ agendas. This has led to increasing demand for specialists in this area, as firms look to embed pharmacovigilance and drug safety at the development phase.
In France and Switzerland demand is high for permanent employees, as organisations look to bring people on-board to work on long-term projects. FDA audits and the urgency of projects is driving demand for contractors and in France, in particular, there has been a rise in the number of contractors
organisations are recruiting in order to address potential issues. Organisations are also seeing the benefits of offering temp to perm positions, as this provides the flexibility of getting talent on-board quickly with the option of securing people down the line on a permanent basis. This is inflating salaries to some extent as employees seek salaries that are competitive with their contractor rate.
That being said, in Germany demand at the lower levels has slowed as firms look to outsource these roles, including data and case processing roles, to third parties, both within Germany and overseas. This lull in demand follows a boom
last year and suggests that many organisations were forward-thinking and met their future requirements. In Germany, we therefore see more highly qualified people competing for the same roles, which has kept salaries static.
In contrast, in pockets of Europe, including Switzerland, the talent pool is somewhat limited which means competition for talent has remained high. This has pushed salaries up as organisations are willing to pay more for people with the right skills. Those organisations that are unwilling, or unable, to inflate salaries are increasingly looking internationally for talent.
Pharmacovigilance & Drug Safety
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Associate Director 70,000 80,000 82,500 120,000 145,000 90,000
Director PVG 120,000 98,000 90,000 130,000 190,000 105,000
Drug Safety Officer 35,438 51,000 45,000 98,090 94,000 50,000
Global Safety Physician 100,000 100,000 75,000 100,000 210,000 100,000
Medical Information Head 80,000 75,000 80,000 98,000 156,000 85,000
Medical Information Officer 45,000 65,000 70,000 70,000 115,000 70,000
Medical QPPV or Medical Director
120,000 120,000 95,000 120,000 220,500 111,000
Pharmacovigilance Associate 30,000 48,000 45,000 50,000 88,000 48,000
Pharmacovigilance Director 75,000 98,000 78,500 140,000 138,000 120,000
Pharmacovigilance Manager 50,000 68,000 65,000 75,000 119,000 70,000
Pharmacovigilance Officer 33,750 38,000 45,000 42,500 102,400 50,000
Pharmacovigilance Physician 70,000 105,000 95,000 75,000 139,800 85,000
Pharmacovigilance Senior Physician
85,000 82,500 100,000 90,000 180,000 90,000
PV Auditor 60,000 67,500 60,000 85,000 132,000 65,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Associate Director 70 - 100 80 - 95 100 - 120 90 - 110 175 - 185 100 - 125
Director PVG 90 - 100 95 - 115 80 - 120 100 - 130 175 - 185 115 - 135
Drug Safety Officer 30 - 40 39 - 46 40 - 60 70 - 100 117 - 123 80 - 90
Global Safety Physician 140 - 150 68 - 77 70 - 90 100 - 140 117 - 123 110 - 135
Medical QPPV or Medical Director
140 - 160 110 - 125 100 - 120 120 - 150 146 - 154 115 - 135
Pharmacovigilance Associate 25 - 35 42 - 48 80 - 90 45 - 65 107 - 113 70 - 80
Pharmacovigilance Director 90 - 110 100 - 115 80 - 110 100 - 120 175 - 185 95 - 125
Pharmacovigilance Manager 50 - 60 58 - 65 80 - 100 70 - 100 127 - 133 90 - 100
Pharmacovigilance Officer 30 - 40 35 - 40 60 - 80 70 - 100 117 - 123 80 - 90
Pharmacovigilance Physician 125 - 135 42 - 50 70 - 90 100 - 140 155 - 175 95 - 115
Pharmacovigilance Senior Manager
60 - 70 68 - 78 60 - 80 70 - 100 151 - 159 95 - 115
Pharmacovigilance Senior Physician
130 - 140 59 - 66 80 - 95 100 - 140 117 - 123 110 - 135
Pharm
acovigilance & D
rug Safety
Temp to perm positions are offering organisations increasing flexibility, although inflating salaries to some extent. ”
44 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 45
Medical AffairsWith a pipeline of new products, including an increasing number of biologics, achieving phase II and III approvals there has been slow but steady growth across the medical affairs function, throughout much of Europe which has led to growing demand for medical affairs professionals. This increase in roles has proved an encouraging sign for many people, and whilst we saw a number of specialists in the Netherlands moving out of medical affairs to commercial roles last year, we are now seeing this trend reversed with many people now re-entering the medical affairs arena. Salaries are therefore stabilising as a result.
Demand remains high for Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) across Europe, although the majority of this demand is driven by movements between organisations, rather than the creation of new roles. This high demand across all regions, combined with a limited talent pool has created intense competition for the best people. In Germany, salaries have been driven up as organisations look to match the high salaries on offer at medical institutes. But employers aren’t competing on salaries alone; across both Germany and France organisations are becoming more flexible about the educational background of MSLs they are recruiting and in Germany we see employers offering flexibility around home working and a better work/life balance in order to attract talent from the medical institutes.
Medical advisors with clinical experience are also in demand in both Germany and the UK. However, with employee expectations and demands higher than ever before movements between organisations are limited as people show reluctance to move roles without securing a higher salary or promotion. This is driving up salaries to some degree as firms look to secure talent in an increasingly limited and competitive market. Medical affairs directors are also increasingly sought after in the UK, with a growing number of companies also
looking to secure directors for their expanding overseas operations. Demand has also remained particularly high across Switzerland, with many of the big pharma headquarters looking to bolster their medical affairs teams.
Bucking the trend seen across much of Europe, Belgium has seen lower levels of demand across the medical affairs function. This is due in part to the reduction in new products seen across Belgium, following reduced investment in R&D and therefore less need for specialists in the medical affairs space. Salaries have therefore remained largely static and competition has remained strong for the best roles.
Throughout the UK the General Medical Council (GMC) qualification stipulations are having a significant impact on those working within medical affairs. With new regulations stating that medical affairs specialists need to be GMC certified and with many higher level professionals lacking
this qualification, but reluctant to undertake the two year training required, there are a number of
experienced, non-medical, senior managers who have found their job opportunities curtailed.
As a result a number of these managers are moving across into MSL roles, often for lower salaries, although we have seen an increasing tendency for these managers to look internationally for other opportunities instead.
On the whole demand remains high for permanent employees, both across
pharma & biotech and medical devices, with organisations looking to build teams that can
grow with the organisation over time. That being said, there is still a market for contractors and
due to the higher rates on offer this is proving an attractive option for many people. This has led to rising
competition for contract roles, and faced with this high level of competition we are seeing some contractors moving over to permanent roles.
Across the medical devices sector it is medical affairs specialists with a technical background that are proving the most highly sought after, as employers look for people with the skill sets to work closely with technicians and NPD teams.
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Chief Medical Officer 170,000 175,000 160,000 220,000 250,000 175,000
Chief Scientific Officer 150,000 150,000 140,000 170,000 156,800 150,000
Clinical Research Physician 55,000 60,000 70,000 75,000 165,000 70,000
Director of Therapy Area 110,000 100,000 90,000 90,000 154,650 90,000
Head of Medical Affairs 95,000 105,000 110,000 128,333 230,000 105,000
Head of Medical Liaison 75,000 95,000 80,000 97,500 148,760 92,500
Medical Advisor 65,000 85,000 72,000 90,000 137,666 81,880
Medical Affairs Manager 85,000 95,000 81,500 102,500 115,325 92,500
Medical Director 120,000 120,000 100,000 130,000 198,546 107,500
Medical Information 40,000 55,000 69,000 75,000 107,000 55,000
Medical Science Liaison 55,000 75,000 70,000 98,333 123,650 65,000
R&D Medical Director 110,000 107,500 100,000 120,000 210,300 110,000
Scientific Advisor 58,000 80,000 75,000 75,000 124,600 75,000
Senior Medical Advisor 78,000 100,000 75,000 100,000 145,000 95,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Collaboration Manager 67 - 74 80 - 90 86 - 95 78 - 90 115 - 140 81 - 89
Head of Medical Affairs 130 - 150 110 - 120 86 - 95 120 - 150 171 - 179 95 - 105
Head of Medical Information 60 - 70 105 - 110 85 - 100 90 - 120 156 - 164 95 -110
Head of Medical Liaison 100 - 110 90 - 100 85 - 93 100 - 130 127 - 133 81 - 89
Medical Affairs Advisor 120 - 130 80 - 88 74 - 82 80 - 100 107 - 113 114 - 126
Medical Affairs Manager 100 - 110 98 - 115 41 - 45 80 - 100 127 - 133 105 - 116
Medical Director 130 - 150 100 - 110 76 - 84 105 - 125 146 - 154 71 - 79
Medical Information 40 - 50 62 - 68 71 - 79 95 - 110 98 - 103 95 - 105
Medical Science Liaison 50 - 70 75 - 80 73 - 81 86 - 105 88 - 92 84 - 92
Scientific Advisor 50 - 70 95 - 110 70 - 80 80 - 100 132 -138 85 - 100
Senior Medical Affairs Advisor 135 - 145 110 - 120 80 - 90 100 - 130 136 - 144 100 - 125
Senior Medical Information 45 - 55 80 - 90 80 - 95 80 - 100 112 - 118 85 - 100
Med
ical Affairs
Salaries have remained largely static and competition has remained strong for the best roles.”
46 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 47
Health Economics & Outcomes Research Health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) remains central to many organisations as firms continue to focus on balancing risk and return and assess the potential long-term returns on both exisiting products and the pipeline of new products coming through. As a result demand for HEOR specialists has remained stable across Europe, with pockets of high demand seen in some regions.
In both Germany and the Netherlands, where the success of new drugs remains heavily dependent on the ability of organisations to secure reimbursement from health insurance companies, we are seeing particularly high demand for specialists across the HEOR discipline. Despite the general growth across the function, Belgium continues to buck this trend and demand remains lower than in its neighbouring countries.
With more roles on offer in many regions, and a limited talent pool we are seeing more organisations looking internationally for talent as employers look to avoid overly inflating salaries to secure talent. The impact of an increasingly international market is evident in France, as a growing number of market access and HEOR specialists move internationally, attracted by the scope of the roles on offer and salaries that are proving highly competitive when compared to local rates. Similarly though, we see organisations across France continue to look abroad to fill the shortfall of talent and replace those moving elsewhere. Home to a number of pharma headquarters and some of the largest HEOR functions, Switzerland is benefiting from the increasingly mobile talent pool as people turn their attention to the attractive packages on offer.
That being said though, experienced talent with the right skill sets remains in short supply and even employers across Switzerland have to be increasingly flexibility in order to get people on-board. And it’s not just the small – medium sized organisations that need to adapt their employer offering to attract talent; a strong employer name is no longer enough, and even the big pharmas are evaluating the scope of roles on offer, together with their financial and benefit packages.
People with an economics or finance background remain in high demand and are able to command a premium in many cases. In the Netherlands, in particular, we are seeing a number of people move into HEOR from commercial backgrounds drawn by the nature of the roles and salaries on offer. Whilst salaries and contract rates are proving attractive, they remain stable on the whole across Europe.
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Director of Health Economics 120,000 135,000 120,000 130,000 245,000 130,000
Director of Market Access 100,000 120,000 150,000 130,000 265,500 130,000
Epidemiologist 62,500 80,000 65,000 85,000 131,450 80,000
Head of Health Economics and Market Access 200,000 150,000 170,000 130,000 220,000 155,000
Health Economics Account Manager 68,000 70,000 70,000 90,000 165,000 69,000
Health Economics Associate 60,000 65,000 70,000 70,000 153,350 65,000
Health Economics Manager 75,000 75,000 90,000 85,000 190,000 87,000
Health Economics Modeler 65,000 60,000 60,000 55,000 162,250 46,000
HEOR Consultant 50,000 70,000 70,000 75,000 139,950 79,000
Market Access Analyst 47,500 45,000 55,000 47,500 106,500 45,000
Market Access Consultant 50,000 60,000 65,000 65,000 124,800 58,500
Market Access Manager 75,000 75,000 90,000 81,250 166,100 80,000
Senior Health Economist 65,000 80,000 80,000 85,000 181,000 80,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Director of Health Economics 120 - 140 155 - 171 114 - 126 125 - 150 224 - 136 119 - 131
Director of Market Access 128 - 150 100 - 120 124 - 137 125 - 150 175 - 185 119 - 131
Head of Health Economics and Market Access 104 - 114 100 - 120 114 - 126 105 - 130 195 - 205 114 - 126
Health Economics Account Manager 95 - 105 75 - 95 86 - 95 95 - 105 156 - 164 90 - 100
Health Economics Associate 33 - 40 60 - 75 60 - 75 67 - 74 98 - 103 60 - 75
Health Economics Manager 55 - 65 97 - 110 95 - 105 95 - 115 146 - 164 95 - 105
Health Economics Modeller 86 - 93 60 - 75 67 - 74 76 - 84 98 - 103 76 - 84
Health Economist 40 - 53 70 - 75 75 - 85 80 - 100 117 - 123 85 - 100
HEOR Consultant 80 - 100 70 - 90 75 - 95 95 - 115 130 - 140 75 - 95
Market Access Consultant 80 - 106 70 - 90 75 - 95 90 - 110 130 - 140 75 - 95
Market Access Manager 55 - 65 88 - 95 95 - 105 90 - 110 117 - 123 114 - 126
Market Information Analyst 33 - 40 55 - 70 55 - 70 71 - 79 98 - 103 55 - 70
Senior Health Economist 65 - 80 65 - 85 65 - 85 80 - 100 117 - 123 65 - 85
Health E
conomics &
Outcom
es Research
People with an economics or finance background remain in high demand and are able to command a premium.”
48 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 49
The greatestdemand for talent remains within the larger pharma headquarters.”
Business Intelligence & Data/Biometrics Following the restructures seen across the BI and data function last year, which included greater collaboration with the HEOR function and increased outsourcing, we are seeing continued investment in this area. As organisations remain focused on driving cost efficiency, outsourcing practices have been closely monitored to assess whether they achieve the expected cost savings. As a result, across Switzerland and Germany, where cost savings have not reached the expected levels and where there have been concerns over the quality of the work outsourced we have seen the outsourcing trend reversed with organisations starting to bring the data functions back in-house. This is creating greater opportunities within these regions once more, which goes some way to readdress the balance of job losses seen last year.
The greatest demand for talent remains within the larger pharma headquarters which typically house the more extensive data and biometrics teams, Switzerland continues to be a particular hotspot. As a result we are seeing talent migrate to these areas from regions such as Belgium, where there is less demand across the data function.
Clinical operations is increasingly impacting the data function, and as organisations demand more data post authorisation and there is greater emphasis on post product launch evaluation we are seeing demand growing in a number of areas. SAS programers, statisticians and data managers are particularly highly sought after and with more jobs on the market and a burgeoning talent pool the market remains fairly stable, which
has also kept both salaries and contract rates static on the whole. The exception to this would be in France where we have seen salaries dip as organisations look to take advantage of a wider talent pool and reduce their spend on headcount.
Contractors remain in demand as organisations look to staff short-term projects and plug staffing shortfalls. Attractive rates have led to an increase in contractors on the market, allowing employers to cherry pick the best talent. For those employers looking at building long-term teams permanent employees are still the preferred option but we are seeing a clear need for employers to be more flexible with the packages on offer to secure the best talent.
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Analyst 37,083 38,750 43,000 45,000 141,900 42,500
Business Analyst 53,000 53,230 54,000 55,000 129,500 61,000
Business Intelligence 48,000 47,000 55,000 55,000 103,600 64,500
Clinical Data Manager 37,500 44,000 45,000 48,000 100,050 45,000
Data Manager 37,500 45,000 48,000 50,000 102,666 44,000
Lead Data Manager 41,500 50,000 63,000 65,000 117,500 63,000
Programmer 30,000 43,000 50,000 58,000 111,250 40,500
Senior Data Manager 42,500 50,000 58,000 55,000 115,750 58,000
Senior Statistician 55,000 60,000 55,000 80,000 118,100 60,000
Statistician 50,000 55,250 40,000 70,000 106,255 51,000
Statistics Manager 60,000 70,000 65,000 85,000 131,195 67,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Analyst 38 - 45 31 - 35 83 - 92 55 - 65 98 - 103 75 - 85
Business Analyst 48 - 53 39 - 43 67 - 74 70 - 85 117 - 123 75 - 85
Business Intelligence 48 - 53 37 - 41 76 - 84 75 - 90 102 - 108 75 - 90
Clinical Data Manager 38 - 45 47 - 51 57 - 63 55 - 65 98 - 103 70 - 80
Data Manager 20 - 25 48 - 54 57 - 63 55 - 65 102 - 108 75 - 85
Lead Data Manager 45 - 50 48 - 54 76 - 84 65 - 70 112 - 118 85 - 95
Programmer 58 - 53 47 - 51 57 - 63 65 - 80 102 - 108 50 - 60
Senior Data Manager 47 - 55 76 - 84 76 - 84 65 - 75 117 - 123 85 - 95
Senior Statistician 56 - 62 56 - 62 81 - 89 85 - 110 112 - 118 85 - 95
Statistician 61 - 70 33 - 37 71 - 79 65 - 85 102 - 108 60 - 75
Statistics Manager 63 - 69 63 - 69 95 - 105 85 - 110 132 - 138 85 - 100
Business Intelligence &
Data/B
iometrics
Contractors remain in demand as organisations look to staff short-term projects and plug staffing shortfalls.”
50 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 51
Sales & Marketing The shift away from traditional sales forces has continued over the past year, meaning sales representatives, particularly at a junior level, are no longer highly sought after. Instead we see a focus on key account managers as organisations look to build stronger relationships with their client base. There has also been a rise in organisations outsourcing the sales function, particularly in Switzerland, as firms look to become less operational and more strategic. Following the decline in the sales function we have seen many sales professionals retrain in order to transition into marketing, where prospects appear more favourable.
As organisations look at multiple new routes to market we have seen continued growth across the marketing function. This demand has been driven in part by the increasing sensitivity around marketing and communications as organisations look to reconfirm their positioning in light of a series of high profile scandals following unethical practices. Many organisations are therefore looking to bring on-board senior, experienced professionals as a result.
In the UK, organisations are increasingly outsourcing the bulk of their marketing to third party suppliers, whilst retaining small in-house brand teams to oversee all marketing activity. This is creating a number of new agency-side roles in the market. With smaller in-house teams and less senior management there is also increasing demand for senior marketing consultants who are often brought in on a short-term basis to provide strategic insight. These skills are highly sought after and companies are often willing to pay a premium for this experience.
Across much of Europe though in-house teams are continuing to grow, with brand and product managers in particular demand. There has also been an increasing focus on digital marketing and marketing professionals with online and digital experience are in a strong position, with plenty of new opportunities. With a wealth of available talent salaries have remained relatively stable across Europe.
Within France, there is also an increasing focus on relationship management as pharma & biotech organisations look to move closer to their patients. With experienced talent in this area in short supply we are seeing organisations look outside the pharma sector to retail and commercial sectors in order to secure the best talent. As a result we are seeing salaries being driven up as employers look to match the high salaries on offer in the commercial sector.
Commercial skills are becoming increasingly sought after as both pharma & biotech and medical devices companies look to maximise the reach and return on new products. In the UK, a strong sales background is also seen as an asset. Following the implementation of new regulations stipulating the inclusion of technical/scientific information in all promotional communications in Germany specialists with a science-based or technical degree also find themselves at an advantage.
Across the medical devices sector a technical background is almost a prerequisite for marketing professionals and organisations are increasingly looking for marketers with a blend of commercial and technical skills and are willing to pay competitive salaries in order to secure these people.
With more people choosing to take on interim contracts, organisations have had a wider contractor talent pool from which to select the best people. This wealth of talent has meant organisations are no longer willing to raise rates to secure the best people, which has resulted in slowing contract rates across Europe. In contrast permanent salaries have seen slow and steady growth for those areas in high demand.
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Account Manager 55,000 51,000 60,000 77,500 127,000 65,000
Business Development Manager 65,000 60,000 65,000 73,333 113,950 72,000
Commercial Director 96,000 80,000 100,000 100,000 166,000 100,000
Communications & PR Manager 50,000 65,000 76,000 82,500 122,750 70,000
Head of Marketing 100,000 75,000 90,000 120,000 163,000 82,500
Head of Sales 80,000 90,000 95,000 125,000 163,800 100,000
Head of Sales & Marketing 70,000 120,000 100,000 150,625 164,440 115,000
Insight Director 110,000 90,000 92,000 90,000 163,500 90,000
Junior Account Manager 30,000 35,000 45,000 45,000 104,000 45,000
Market Analyst 47,500 48,000 50,000 55,000 100,250 50,000
Marketing Communications Manager 55,000 60,000 50,000 75,000 122,746 50,000
Marketing Director 100,000 100,000 95,000 140,000 163,600 95,000
Marketing Executive 37,800 45,000 45,000 90,000 102,400 50,000
Marketing Manager 80,000 75,000 75,000 72,000 132,900 75,000
Online Marketing Manager 60,000 45,000 50,000 50,000 114,800 50,000
Product/Brand Manager 65,000 48,000 60,000 80,000 134,250 66,500
Sales & Marketing Manager 70,000 120,000 80,000 55,000 140,700 76,500
Sales Manager 65,000 90,000 75,000 91,083 142,000 85,000
Sales/Field Representative 37,000 42,000 50,000 65,000 113,750 50,000
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Account Manager 35 - 40 33 - 37 40 - 52 80 - 90 98 - 103 57 - 63
Business Developer 17 - 18 37 - 41 60 - 70 76 - 90 117 - 123 52 - 58
Commercial Director 70 - 80 77 - 85 115 - 125 95 - 110 132 -138 95 - 105
Communications & PR Manager 35 - 40 35 - 39 80 - 90 70 - 85 98 - 103 81 - 89
Head of Marketing 60 - 70 62 - 68 95 - 105 100 - 125 166 - 174 76 - 84
Head of Sales 40 - 50 71 - 79 95 - 105 100 - 125 146 - 154 76 - 84
Head of Sales & Marketing 40 - 50 41 - 45 95 - 105 100 - 125 146 - 154 86 - 95
Insight Director 60 - 70 71 - 79 95 - 105 95 - 105 127 - 133 95 - 105
Junior Account Manager 25 - 30 30 - 34 30 - 40 57 - 63 78 - 82 43 - 47
Market Analyst 43 - 47 44 - 48 52 - 58 57 - 63 93 - 97 62 - 68
Marketing Communications Manager 40 - 44 57 - 63 81 - 89 80 - 100 117 - 123 81 - 89
Marketing Director 70 - 90 108 - 120 95 - 105 120 - 140 151 - 159 95 - 105
Marketing Executive 45 - 55 52 - 58 62 - 68 57 - 63 136 - 144 71 - 79
Marketing Manager 50 - 60 71 - 79 35 - 38 80 - 100 98 - 103 57 - 63
Online Marketing Manager 30 - 37 37 - 41 81 - 89 80 - 100 93 - 97 81 - 89
Product Marketing Manager 40 - 45 37 - 41 81 - 89 80 - 100 98 - 103 81 - 89
Sales & Marketing Manager 40 - 45 37 - 41 81 - 89 80 - 100 102 - 108 81 - 89
Sales Manager 30 - 35 34 - 38 35 - 38 80 - 100 102 - 108 71 - 79
Sales/Field Representative 18 - 20 36 - 40 62 - 68 57 - 63 78 - 82 38 - 42
Sales &
Marketing
52 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 53
New product launches and expansion into new territories is driving demand for both medical writers and project managers.”
Across the operations function we have seen rising demand for supply chain and logistics specialists, following the revision of the Good Distribution Practice (GDP) guidelines. With tightening regulations surrounding the distribution of medicinal products, many pharma & biotech organisations are understandably looking for logistics specialists with GDP experience. With a limited pool of available talent we are seeing salaries driven up as a result.
Under continued pressure to contain fixed costs and improve productivity pharma, biotech and medical devices organisations across Europe are reducing their internal
operations and are continuing to outsource a number of functions. As we saw last year, this added level of complexity to the supply chain model is driving demand for supply chain and logistics managers with experience of managing international logistics models. On the whole salaries have remained stable, due to stable demand across both permanent and contract and a relatively buoyant talent pool throughout Europe.
The outsourcing trend seen over previous years has continued, with few pharma & biotech organisations maintaining in-house teams. Instead the discipline is dominated by smaller communications agencies, many of which are located in European hubs such as the UK. Across these hubs we have seen continued opportunities for experienced professionals. In contrast we have seen lower demand across Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Looking for strong pharma & biotech backgrounds, agencies are willing to pay to secure the right talent. As we’ve seen across the sales and marketing function organisations are also increasingly looking for people with commercial acumen.
These requirements are also shared across the medical devices sector and to some extent we have seen movement between the sectors, providing candidates have a base level of knowledge of the sector and specialist product knowledge.
New product launches and expansion into new territories is driving demand for both medical writers and project managers as organisations across pharma, biotech and medical devices look to roll out international communications plans. International experience is therefore a bonus and with a limited talent pool on offer we are seeing more organisations looking internationally to plug the shortfall of talent.
OperationsMedical Communications
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Account Director 67,000 70,000 90,000 65,000 136,020 72,000
Account Executive 28,000 35,000 35,000 30,000 95,950 40,000
Account Manager 35,000 40,000 40,000 50,000 117,100 40,000
Medical Writer 38,000 40,000 45,000 45,000 113,264 45,000
Permanent Gross average annual salary, excluding bonus and benefits.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Assistant Director 75,000 85,000 90,000 95,000 131,000 92,500
Associate Director of ICT 77,500 90,000 90,000 110,000 146,500 90,000
General Manager 75,000 125,000 140,000 150,000 133,800 145,000
Head of Pharmaceuticals 80,000 120,000 110,000 120,000 154,000 110,000
IT Manager 65,000 85,000 75,000 90,000 142,000 65,000
Logistics Manager 45,000 50,000 55,000 55,000 135,500 55,000
Material Planner 30,000 35,000 40,000 50,000 94,300 40,000
Pharmacy Technician 30,000 38,000 40,000 32,000 73,850 40,000
Production Supervisor 40,000 42,000 47,000 50,000 93,600 40,000
Production Technician 30,000 37,500 45,000 37,500 85,800 40,000
Software CSV Engineer 40,000 55,000 50,000 60,000 119,350 50,000
Supply Chain Manager 57,000 72,500 65,000 55,000 99,900 67,000
Technical Support Specialist 37,500 38,000 35,000 40,000 117,010 40,500
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Account Director 55 - 60 80 - 85 81 - 89 95 - 110 130 - 140 80 - 85
Account Executive 35 - 40 45 - 60 52 - 58 65 - 75 105 - 115 45 - 50
Account Manager 45 - 50 65 - 80 71 - 79 80 - 90 100 - 110 70 - 80
Medical Writer 52 - 58 50 - 70 71 - 79 67 - 90 100 - 110 55 - 65
Contract Average hourly rate.Job title UK (£) France (€) Netherlands (€) Germany (€) Switzerland (CHF) Belgium (€)
Assistant Director 100 - 120 59 - 65 95 - 105 110 - 130 146 - 154 90 - 100
Associate Director of ICT 80 - 100 80 - 88 114 - 126 120 - 140 195 - 205 90 - 100
General Manager 80 - 100 200 - 250 114 - 126 120 - 140 175 - 185 95 - 105
Head of Pharmaceuticals 60 - 80 105 - 114 114 - 126 120 - 140 195 - 205 109 - 121
IT Manager 60 - 85 90 - 96 71 - 79 90 - 105 107 - 113 71 - 79
Logistics Manager 50 - 60 71 - 78 76 - 84 85 - 95 117 - 123 70 - 77
Material Planner 50 - 60 29 - 30 67 - 74 67 - 74 98 - 103 71 - 79
Pharmacy Technician 18 - 25 29 - 30 43 - 47 48 - 53 88 - 92 48 - 53
Production Supervisor 50 - 65 47 - 51 67 - 74 71 - 79 117 - 123 67 - 74
Production Technician 50 - 60 52 - 55 57 - 63 62 - 68 127 - 133 52 - 58
Software Engineer 45 - 55 48 - 54 52 - 58 60 - 65 132 - 138 52 - 58
Supply Chain Manager 55 - 70 72 - 80 81 - 89 81 - 89 146 - 154 71 - 79
Technical Support Specialist 50 - 60 40 - 48 48 - 53 50 - 60 98 - 103 52 - 58
Med
ical Com
munications O
perations
54 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce 55
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56 Recruiting & retaining a competitive workforce
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