The pharmaceutical sector continues to fall short on job applicants, with recent data showing a 41% decline in people applying for vacancies between May 2022 and June 2022, threatening the UK’s status as a global pharmaceuticals leader. That’s according to the latest data from the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.

Broadbean’s statistics also reveal a 25% decline in the number of applicants year-on-year between June 2021 and June 2022. This drop in qualified resources has been a concern for some time, with specialist pharmaceutical roles being added to the Home Office’s shortage occupation list in March 2021, making it easier for international experts to apply for a skilled worker visa through the UK’s immigration system. However, with numbers continuing to drop over a year later, it’s clear that more needs to be done to attract people to the sector.

Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology, commented:

“The UK’s skills crisis is continuing to be a focal issue, and for good reason, as our data shows that these shortages are impacting almost every business, across every sector. While there is an undeniable shortage in blue-collar jobs such as retail and logistics, it’s actually the highly skilled sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, that are more of a concern for the UK’s economic bounce back, with candidates for these positions taking longer to train up and being harder to find. We’ve now reached a critical point where pharmaceutical firms need to rebuild and nurture dwindling talent pools, while also utilising innovative technology and maximising partnerships with external talent suppliers in order to find the undiscovered talent that is so desperately needed.”