Business As Usual In Science

    LONDON, ENGLAND, April 21, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Reed's recent report 'Meeting the People Challenge' revealed how the country's employers have been responding to the recession. But what is the situation when we drill down to the scientific sectors? Have workers at Reed Scientific's clients in fields such as clinical and pre-clinical research and development experienced the same as their peers in other industries? One of the survey's main findings was that most organisations in the UK were striving to avoid redundancies, turning instead to strategies such as reduced working hours or extended unpaid leave. Yet many of Reed Scientific's clients, particularly those in the SME sector, have always had to keep an eye on the bottom line.

'Within high-tech and scientific sectors, such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, there have always been closures, mergers and takeovers, in recessionary and good times,' says Ben Knott, Area Manager for Reed Scientific. 'Many of our clients, while they haven't had to make large numbers of redundancies, have instead decided not to replace leavers if their recruitment budgets are cut.'

The importance of a strong pipeline

Small biotech companies might have attracted millions of pounds in funding from venture capitalists during the years prior to the credit crunch. Yet today, according to Knott, even if R&D looks like generating viable products, those companies may find it hard to partner with a larger organisation to develop the product as financing is now so much more difficult. "This means if clinical trials don't work out, depending on what else is in the pipeline, they have to close more quickly, or end up as the target of a cut-price takeover," says Knott. "So this could impact on ability and enthusiasm for taking on staff."

"But the world always needs new drugs and medical technologies, and development pipelines are incredibly long. Companies have been doing their best to prevent the short to medium-term economic climate from interfering with the much longer-term journey from initial experiment to patient prescription."

Vectura - investing in people

A case in point is Vectura, one of the UK's fastest-growing and most successful biotech companies. Vectura focuses on the development and commercialisation of a range of inhaled therapies, principally for the treatment of lung diseases. The company was established in 1997 with venture capital backing and, like many VC-funded businesses in healthcare, tends to be fairly lean. It has a policy of investing in and developing its staff, leading to a highly flexible, motivated workforce with a low staff turnover. As a result, it hasn't been impacted so much by the downturn: "When the economy took a dive, we didn't have to look around to make cutbacks," says Steve White, the company's HR Director. "We've always offered our staff flexible hours or part-time working for parents - they're not responses to the recession."

While employers in other sectors have been drafting in temps to get around permanent headcount freezes, employers in science have tended not to use this tactic. Knott says that, with a few notable exceptions, his temporary business has remained fairly static, although fewer organisations have been taking on people on a temp-to-perm basis, indicating greater efforts to keep talent off the permanent payroll. And Reed Scientific, like other divisions within Reed Specialist Recruitment, has been appointed by clients to manage outplacement projects - but again, not in significant numbers compared to other sectors.

Back to growth

It appears that, while not immune, some employers across scientific research and development have largely escaped the worst of the recession. As Steve White of Vectura says, "We're in a unique position in our sector with our revenue generation, low cash burn and a de-risked business model, with more than enough work to go round." And he adds, "We regularly communicate this to staff - stressing that it's business as usual."

Things seem to be looking up: "Whilst budgets last year were more about survival, a few line managers are now telling us that this year's projections and budgets are based on growing teams - in fact, getting back towards pre-recession levels of activity," says Knott.

For more information on science recruitment and jobs offered by Reed Specialist Recruitment, please visit their website www.reedglobal.com.

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