Why Recruitment Excellence Matters More Than Ever in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry stands on the edge of a talent precipice. With one in three roles in the US Life Sciences sector projected to be vacant by 2030, organisations must act now. According to AMS, 80% of pharmaceutical companies struggle with skills mismatches, and 36% of drug developers warn that talent shortages hamper progress. Furthermore, 90% of life sciences employers are experiencing skills shortages, according to the Hays Salary and Recruiting Trends 2024 report.

Given these challenges, attracting, recruiting, and retaining talent must become an organisation-wide competency. However, the pressure to fill roles quickly, combined with a lack of expertise and infrastructure, often leads to poor decision-making, resulting in costly recruitment mistakes and a lack of productivity and growth. Without the right skilled talent, the ability of the pharmaceutical supply chain to bring life-changing molecules to market is significantly impeded.

‍The Cost of Poor Recruitment Decisions

Poor recruitment processes and decisions are not just in convenient; they’re expensive and time-consuming. The US Department of Labor estimates that the average cost of a bad hire is up to 30% of the employee’s annual salary. CareerBuilder reports an average cost of $17,000 per bad hire. The pharmaceutical industry's average time to fill a position is 44 days, ranging from 26 to 59 days. A recruitment process that fails to deliver costs the organisation time, money, and the broader impact of lost opportunity and productivity.

A poor recruitment experience weakens your brand and alienates your talent pool. Nearly half (49%) of job seekers from in-demand fields have rejected a job offer because of a bad experience during the hiring process (PWC). And the challenges extend beyond recruitment. Poor onboarding of new hires accounts for 20% of employee turnover, illustrating that recruitment must be seen as a strategic process and function if organisations want to compete in this challenging talent market.

How to Get Recruitment Right

To address these challenges, organisations must foster a strong hiring culture across the business. Talent acquisition is not solely the domain of HR professionals. The most successful organisations recognise that an effective talent strategy aligns with the business’s goals and requires all stakeholders to play their part. This includes hiring managers, HR, and outsourced recruitment expertise. Investing in the development of recruitment capability and expertise for all stakeholders mitigates risk and drives growth.

Here’s how:

• ‍Training for Hiring Managers to equip them with the skills and knowledge to make better, fairer hiring decisions. ‍
• Continuous Improvement for in-house TA Teams to ensure they are at the forefront of best practice and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques.
• ‍Enhance the cultural and technical onboarding process to help new hires integrate into the company culture from day one. This includes helping those from outside the industry to navigate the complexity and nuances of the pharmaceutical industry.  ‍
• Build agility and resilience into your talent acquisition function with outsourced and embedded expertise so you can quickly scale in line with your growth trajectory.

Conclusion

To address the skill shortages and competition for talent in pharma, organisations must adopt a strategic approach to recruitment. Investing in recruitment excellence improves the ability to attract, hire, and retain top talent. More importantly, it empowers the industry to keep delivering its promise to improve the health and well-being of people worldwide.

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