According to CRB’s 2022 Horizon Report, a lack of trained staff is a chronic weak point for many biopharma and life sciences companies.

This statement likely won’t come as a surprise to any organization currently in the process of hiring new talent. Finding qualified candidates with the right experience within a specific field has become increasingly difficult for nearly all industries, and ours is not exempt from this growing plight.

However, it’s not feasible for a company to simply not hire new talent—it’s a necessary process for any company looking to achieve its business goals. This predicament leaves many hiring unfit prospects, costing them both time and money.

While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to shifting talent demands, understanding the “whys” behind this phenomenon is an excellent first step.

What’s Causing Shifting Talent Demands?

Like many of the challenges our workforce faces today, these hiring difficulties stem from the pandemic.

To keep up with the vaccine boom, many organizations experienced rapid expansion levels, which, in turn, created more jobs. While there were more available jobs, that didn’t necessarily mean there were enough qualified prospects to fill those roles. And considering that many positions within the biopharma and life sciences industry had already been difficult to fill, the competition became even more fierce.

This expansion not only prompted the need for more personnel but the need for new roles. Advancing technologies and the growing number of companies developing specialty drugs created new, niche roles organizations had never needed to fill previously.

For example, with many companies adopting new technologies and increasing their digitalization efforts, new roles and titles, such as Chief Data Officer, are now needed.

However, it’s often the case that very few job seekers fit the extremely specific qualifications required to take on these niche roles. And to add fuel to the fire, the highly sought-after skills that biopharma and life sciences companies search for in candidates, such as experience with artificial intelligence, cyber security, and data science, are also in high demand within other industries.

Similar to other emerging challenges brought about by the aftershock of the pandemic, organizations must innovate and refresh their processes to overcome these obstacles.

Overcome Hiring Challenges

A different approach to the traditional hiring process can help companies close the growing skill gap, and ultimately, build the foundation for a stronger organization.

Instead of searching externally, shifting the focus to training, reskilling, and mobilizing your existing staff may yield better results.

Not only are current employees more familiar with your organization’s goals and processes, but they don’t need to be onboarded, which saves you valuable time and resources. Showing employees that you care about developing their skills and seeing them succeed will also boost workforce morale and retention.

However, this strategy may not work for every vacant position. Plus, organizations must consider that they may need to backfill the positions of their employees who assume new roles.

On the flip side of looking internally, many biopharma and life sciences organizations utilize CQV staff augmentation services to fill the gaps in their workforce.

These services are appealing due to their quick and flexible nature. They have professionals of all experience levels ready to augment your existing commissioning, qualification, and validation staff.

So, whether your organization needs a relatively new engineer to join and complement your in-house team or a seasoned professional to lean on for a higher level of expertise and leadership, these services can help you find the right fit quickly.

Partnering with the Right CQV Staff Augmentation Service

If your organization is considering partnering with a CQV firm to augment your existing staff, it is of the utmost importance that you find one:

  • With an extensive database of CQV professionals
  • That can match the skills you need
  • That has vast experience finding and placing employees in-house

Our CQV staff augmentation service pulls from an expansive database of available and skill-assessed engineers. We can work together to hand-select your CQV team with the right blend of abilities and experience to work alongside your in-house engineering and compliance teams.

Need help adjusting to shifting talent demands?