The biotech job market is booming, with the number of jobs available in the sector…
[toc headings=h2,h3] The pandemic affected the pharmaceutical industry differently than most. When many businesses in other industries were struggling to keep their doors open and unemployment rates soared, the demand for talent in the pharmaceutical sector soared. Recruiting qualified pharmaceutical professionals remains a challenge today. Recent data from McKinsey & Company shows that a 20% increase in demand for STEM roles across the life sciences has resulted in a pool of pharma talent that's at least 14% smaller than it needs to be to meet demand. Working with a specialized recruitment firm is one way for companies to overcome these hiring challenges. Here are 10 of the top recruiting agencies in the industry today to help pharmaceutical employers build the teams they need to meet their business goals.
Surf Search is a life sciences recruitment firm that specializes in connecting companies with top candidates in biotech, healthcare, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and similar science and health roles. Their hands-on talent solutions are what put them among the best recruitment agencies in the pharmaceutical industry. They provide support throughout the hiring process, from sourcing and screening candidates through interviews, offer negotiation, and onboarding. With offices in 34 cities across the United States, they have the reach to identify the top pharmaceutical professionals in the nation. Read more Surf Search
As a proven scientific and clinical recruitment partner, Pinpoint Pharma is a boutique recruiting firm with more than 40 years of experience making ideal placements in pharmaceutical jobs. Their recruiters aren't just experts in the field, but develop that same depth of understanding into the business needs and company culture of the organizations they partner with. For candidates, they go beyond matching talent with open roles, offering mentorship and guidance throughout the hiring process to ensure long-term success for both their clients and the job seekers they place. One particular area they specialize in is temp-to-hire contracts, boasting an 87% conversion rate of temporary to permanent hires. Read more Pinpoint Pharma
As a life sciences recruitment firm, EPM Scientific fills opportunities throughout the sector, including in the areas of regulatory affairs, quality assurance, research and development, and pharmacology. Their international network of in-demand talent allows them to connect companies around the world with the right people for their opportunities. While they have a broad reach, they still bring a tailored, bespoke approach to each search, drawing on their knowledge of global industry trends to help their clients refine their requirements and find the right individuals for their roles. Read more EPM Scientific
Employers who need to hire executives and leaders in pharmaceuticals, Pharma-Cruiting is among the top executive recruiters for the US and Europe. They are headquartered in Philadelphia, with a second office in Antwerp for their European searches. Their primary focus is on headhunting elite leadership candidates in the areas of pharmaceutical manufacturing, companion diagnostics, research & development, and clinical trials. Their high placement success rate stems from the detailed info they collect from each client. They work with hiring teams to refine their job description and requirements, then use this data to scour the employment market for leaders ready to grow their pharmaceutical career with a new role. Read more Pharma-Cruiting
For pharmaceutical sales recruitment, MedSearch is an industry leader with the ability to deliver impactful talent. Their 10-step Right Match Approach thoroughly vets candidates across a number of factors that matter to an employer, including their skills, attitude, character, and track record in past positions. This is followed by a triple screening process to ensure only the best candidates are sent to clients. With 71 locations across all 50 states, they can deliver this same in-depth service to employers across the nation. Read more MedSearch
With nearly three decades of experience focused specifically on biopharma and medical device recruiting, the expert recruitment staff at The Pharma Recruiters has access to a vast talent network and deep industry insights to hire the right employees. They specialize in scaling a workforce for growth, and offer consulting and recruiting services in sectors including laboratory diagnostics, specialty pharmaceuticals, rare disease pharmaceuticals, and pharmacies. Their customized recruitment solutions include retained, cotainer, or engaged search along with non-traditional fee structures, giving employers flexibility to match any search timeline or budget. Read more The Pharma Recruiters
RX Relief was awarded ClearlyRated's 10-Year Diamond Best of Staffing awards on both the Client and Talent sides, marking them as among the top .2% of staffing firms in the country. This reputation for excellence has helped them to build a network of more than 50,000 professionals ready to put their expertise to work. Along with permanent placements, their Workforce Pulse Solutions provide short-term staffing for leave coverage, short-term projects, and workload peaks, helping ensure their clients always have the employees they need, when they need them. Read more RX Relief
The dynamic recruiting strategy employed by Barrington James makes them a go-to staffing firm for companies across the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. The strong relationships they cultivate with clients are at the heart of their recruitment success. They leverage technology in their searches, too, blending data-driven insights with their knowledge of the organization's mission, goals, and needs. They are a particularly good choice for companies focused on innovation, with specializations in areas like biostatistics, artificial intelligence, medical devices, and clinical development and operations. Read more Barrington James
For Canadian pharmaceutical companies that need to add people with pharma expertise to their team, Lock Search Group can serve as your ideal recruiting partners. Their recruiter consultants are experts in the industry and what employers need from the ideal candidate. Their executive search services can connect you with the top leaders in the sector, and they hire for a range of healthcare positions, including those in scientific research, medical device manufacturing, and biotechnology, in addition to their pharmaceutical staffing services. In addition to offices across Canada, their Boston location makes them a good fit for organizations in the Northeast United States. Read more Lock Search Group
RSI is an executive recruiter committed to conducting extensive searches for leadership, management, and executive talent across more than three dozen vertical markets. This includes sectors such as biotech, medical device, and healthcare, as well as pharmaceuticals. Each area of their search services is headed by industry insiders with hands-on experience in their area of specialty. That expertise is how they deliver consistent results, conducting rigorous assessments of candidates and providing information and resources to hiring teams to help them make smart decisions about who to hire. Read more Reaction Search International
The talent shortage mentioned in the introduction is the first challenge many pharmaceutical companies are facing today. There is stiff competition for the top talent, particularly roles like Medical Science Liaison and professionals who conduct and review clinical trials. The regulatory environment in the pharmaceutical industry is part of the problem when filling a position in this sector. Candidates need to have the experience, education, and other qualifications that are dictated by regulatory requirements in order for the business to stay in compliance. This narrows the potential talent pool further and can drive up both the cost to hire and the timeline to fill a role. The highly-skilled nature of these positions further compounds the challenge in finding the right pharma talent, particularly at the entry level. The 2021 Workforce Trends Report from the Coalition of State Bioscience Institutes highlighted this challenge. Roughly half of the skills required for entry-level roles in the life sciences are considered high-level skills, requiring extensive education and training to master. That is nearly double the percentage of high-level skills required for entry-level employees in other industries. A high barrier for entry to these early-career jobs has a ripple effect across the talent pool, limiting newcomers to the industry from gaining the experience that would qualify them for other roles. The gap between available talent and open jobs is only likely to increase. The two life sciences subsectors with the most job growth in 2020 were research & medical laboratories, and drugs & pharmaceuticals. As of mid-2023, the number of active job postings in the pharmaceutical sector were rising by an average of 4.5% month-over-month, at roughly double the rate of closed positions. Adding to this difficulty is the fact that many pharmaceutical companies have a relatively high turnover rate. The industry-wide turnover rate in 2023 was 9.9%, lower than the 19.1% turnover rate for the broader healthcare industry but higher than the 13% average across the US workforce. While employees in pharma and biotech are on average more engaged than in other industries, they also have a high burnout rate due to the long hours and high demands of these positions. Unfortunately, staffing difficulties only add to these problems. Vacancies on the team leave more work for the rest of your employees, which contributes to overwork, burnout, and eventual resignation. Companies that want to hire and keep the best talent moving forward will need to take a proactive and strategic approach. In the pharmaceutical industry, it's not enough to simply create the job posting and hope the right candidates come to your door. Actively seeking out the right professionals can help pharmaceutical companies fill positions faster, and with higher-quality candidates, and this is where recruitment firms can add the most value. They can undertake this time-consuming work, leaving a company's HR team free to address issues like employee wellness that play a major role in retention. Along with this, their pre-existing networks of professionals can give companies access to professionals they may not have connected with otherwise, expanding their options for filling critical roles.
Just like you want to make sure to hire the right people, it's important to partner with the right recruiter. Especially in a specialized industry like pharmaceuticals, it's imperative that the recruiting firm you partner with understands the industry, its needs, and what makes someone an ideal hire. The ten firms above all have that expertise, along with a strong track record of success in pharma hiring and a broad reach that can help you quickly identify and hire the right people for your team. If you have a challenging pharmaceutical role to fill, consider reaching out to a recruitment firm to learn how they can help you do so faster.
The pandemic affected the pharmaceutical industry differently than most. When many businesses in other industries were struggling to keep their doors open and unemployment rates soared, the demand for talent in the pharmaceutical sector soared.
Recruiting qualified pharmaceutical professionals remains a challenge today. Recent data from McKinsey & Company shows that a 20% increase in demand for STEM roles across the life sciences has resulted in a pool of pharma talent that’s at least 14% smaller than it needs to be to meet demand.
Working with a specialized recruitment firm is one way for companies to overcome these hiring challenges. Here are 10 of the top recruiting agencies in the industry today to help pharmaceutical employers build the teams they need to meet their business goals.
Surf Search is a life sciences recruitment firm that specializes in connecting companies with top candidates in biotech, healthcare, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and similar science and health roles. Their hands-on talent solutions are what put them among the best recruitment agencies in the pharmaceutical industry. They provide support throughout the hiring process, from sourcing and screening candidates through interviews, offer negotiation, and onboarding. With offices in 34 cities across the United States, they have the reach to identify the top pharmaceutical professionals in the nation.
Read more Surf Search
As a proven scientific and clinical recruitment partner, Pinpoint Pharma is a boutique recruiting firm with more than 40 years of experience making ideal placements in pharmaceutical jobs. Their recruiters aren’t just experts in the field, but develop that same depth of understanding into the business needs and company culture of the organizations they partner with. For candidates, they go beyond matching talent with open roles, offering mentorship and guidance throughout the hiring process to ensure long-term success for both their clients and the job seekers they place. One particular area they specialize in is temp-to-hire contracts, boasting an 87% conversion rate of temporary to permanent hires.
Read more Pinpoint Pharma
As a life sciences recruitment firm, EPM Scientific fills opportunities throughout the sector, including in the areas of regulatory affairs, quality assurance, research and development, and pharmacology. Their international network of in-demand talent allows them to connect companies around the world with the right people for their opportunities. While they have a broad reach, they still bring a tailored, bespoke approach to each search, drawing on their knowledge of global industry trends to help their clients refine their requirements and find the right individuals for their roles.
Read more EPM Scientific
Employers who need to hire executives and leaders in pharmaceuticals, Pharma-Cruiting is among the top executive recruiters for the US and Europe. They are headquartered in Philadelphia, with a second office in Antwerp for their European searches. Their primary focus is on headhunting elite leadership candidates in the areas of pharmaceutical manufacturing, companion diagnostics, research & development, and clinical trials. Their high placement success rate stems from the detailed info they collect from each client. They work with hiring teams to refine their job description and requirements, then use this data to scour the employment market for leaders ready to grow their pharmaceutical career with a new role.
Read more Pharma-Cruiting
For pharmaceutical sales recruitment, MedSearch is an industry leader with the ability to deliver impactful talent. Their 10-step Right Match Approach thoroughly vets candidates across a number of factors that matter to an employer, including their skills, attitude, character, and track record in past positions. This is followed by a triple screening process to ensure only the best candidates are sent to clients. With 71 locations across all 50 states, they can deliver this same in-depth service to employers across the nation.
Read more MedSearch
With nearly three decades of experience focused specifically on biopharma and medical device recruiting, the expert recruitment staff at The Pharma Recruiters has access to a vast talent network and deep industry insights to hire the right employees. They specialize in scaling a workforce for growth, and offer consulting and recruiting services in sectors including laboratory diagnostics, specialty pharmaceuticals, rare disease pharmaceuticals, and pharmacies. Their customized recruitment solutions include retained, cotainer, or engaged search along with non-traditional fee structures, giving employers flexibility to match any search timeline or budget.
Read more The Pharma Recruiters
RX Relief was awarded ClearlyRated’s 10-Year Diamond Best of Staffing awards on both the Client and Talent sides, marking them as among the top .2% of staffing firms in the country. This reputation for excellence has helped them to build a network of more than 50,000 professionals ready to put their expertise to work. Along with permanent placements, their Workforce Pulse Solutions provide short-term staffing for leave coverage, short-term projects, and workload peaks, helping ensure their clients always have the employees they need, when they need them.
Read more RX Relief
The dynamic recruiting strategy employed by Barrington James makes them a go-to staffing firm for companies across the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. The strong relationships they cultivate with clients are at the heart of their recruitment success. They leverage technology in their searches, too, blending data-driven insights with their knowledge of the organization’s mission, goals, and needs. They are a particularly good choice for companies focused on innovation, with specializations in areas like biostatistics, artificial intelligence, medical devices, and clinical development and operations.
Read more Barrington James
For Canadian pharmaceutical companies that need to add people with pharma expertise to their team, Lock Search Group can serve as your ideal recruiting partners. Their recruiter consultants are experts in the industry and what employers need from the ideal candidate. Their executive search services can connect you with the top leaders in the sector, and they hire for a range of healthcare positions, including those in scientific research, medical device manufacturing, and biotechnology, in addition to their pharmaceutical staffing services. In addition to offices across Canada, their Boston location makes them a good fit for organizations in the Northeast United States.
Read more Lock Search Group
RSI is an executive recruiter committed to conducting extensive searches for leadership, management, and executive talent across more than three dozen vertical markets. This includes sectors such as biotech, medical device, and healthcare, as well as pharmaceuticals. Each area of their search services is headed by industry insiders with hands-on experience in their area of specialty. That expertise is how they deliver consistent results, conducting rigorous assessments of candidates and providing information and resources to hiring teams to help them make smart decisions about who to hire.
Read more Reaction Search International
The talent shortage mentioned in the introduction is the first challenge many pharmaceutical companies are facing today. There is stiff competition for the top talent, particularly roles like Medical Science Liaison and professionals who conduct and review clinical trials.
The regulatory environment in the pharmaceutical industry is part of the problem when filling a position in this sector. Candidates need to have the experience, education, and other qualifications that are dictated by regulatory requirements in order for the business to stay in compliance. This narrows the potential talent pool further and can drive up both the cost to hire and the timeline to fill a role.
The highly-skilled nature of these positions further compounds the challenge in finding the right pharma talent, particularly at the entry level. The 2021 Workforce Trends Report from the Coalition of State Bioscience Institutes highlighted this challenge. Roughly half of the skills required for entry-level roles in the life sciences are considered high-level skills, requiring extensive education and training to master. That is nearly double the percentage of high-level skills required for entry-level employees in other industries. A high barrier for entry to these early-career jobs has a ripple effect across the talent pool, limiting newcomers to the industry from gaining the experience that would qualify them for other roles.
The gap between available talent and open jobs is only likely to increase. The two life sciences subsectors with the most job growth in 2020 were research & medical laboratories, and drugs & pharmaceuticals. As of mid-2023, the number of active job postings in the pharmaceutical sector were rising by an average of 4.5% month-over-month, at roughly double the rate of closed positions.
Adding to this difficulty is the fact that many pharmaceutical companies have a relatively high turnover rate. The industry-wide turnover rate in 2023 was 9.9%, lower than the 19.1% turnover rate for the broader healthcare industry but higher than the 13% average across the US workforce. While employees in pharma and biotech are on average more engaged than in other industries, they also have a high burnout rate due to the long hours and high demands of these positions. Unfortunately, staffing difficulties only add to these problems. Vacancies on the team leave more work for the rest of your employees, which contributes to overwork, burnout, and eventual resignation.
Companies that want to hire and keep the best talent moving forward will need to take a proactive and strategic approach. In the pharmaceutical industry, it’s not enough to simply create the job posting and hope the right candidates come to your door. Actively seeking out the right professionals can help pharmaceutical companies fill positions faster, and with higher-quality candidates, and this is where recruitment firms can add the most value. They can undertake this time-consuming work, leaving a company’s HR team free to address issues like employee wellness that play a major role in retention. Along with this, their pre-existing networks of professionals can give companies access to professionals they may not have connected with otherwise, expanding their options for filling critical roles.
Just like you want to make sure to hire the right people, it’s important to partner with the right recruiter. Especially in a specialized industry like pharmaceuticals, it’s imperative that the recruiting firm you partner with understands the industry, its needs, and what makes someone an ideal hire.
The ten firms above all have that expertise, along with a strong track record of success in pharma hiring and a broad reach that can help you quickly identify and hire the right people for your team. If you have a challenging pharmaceutical role to fill, consider reaching out to a recruitment firm to learn how they can help you do so faster.
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