Job Seekers Within The Pharmaceutical Industry Maintain A Positive Outlook For 2009

Feb. 9, 2009 - PRLog -- Following a recent survey by CK Clinical at the beginning of 2009 Job seekers within the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries have a very positive outlook for 2009.  The respondents of the survey were from the fields of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance, Data Management, Medicine, Medical Affairs and Medical information.  There positivity is a breath of fresh air in stark contract to the general mood for the UK economy.
CK Clinical surveyed people that had been looking for a job at some point in the last 5 years.  The results showed that 62% of respondents planned to change jobs at some point in 2009 and that the majority of respondents had a very positive outlook on the pharmaceutical jobs market despite viewing the wider economic climate with scepticism.
In the current financial climate it was expected that the survey would show job seekers in the Pharma and Biotech sector were going to be more motivated by making sure they were in a stronger financial position. However, moving for more money actually featured further down the list in 3rdplace with only 12% of the vote.
An overwhelming 42% of respondents that were planning to move on were going to do so for career progression reasons.  Further illustrating that candidates seeking jobs in the Pharmaceutical Industry are very committed to continued personal development. This was followed by 17% of respondents seeking new roles because they sought a better work life balance.  
Asked about how positive they felt about their current employers, 47% felt that their employers were in the same position that they were this time last year and 29% felt that they were in a stronger position. Further contrasting with the trends seen in the wider economic environment.

There was a clear divide on opinions about the state of the jobs market with only 9.6% of respondents feeling that there were lots of opportunities, 47.1% feeling that there were just enough opportunities and 43.3% feeling that there were not enough opportunities.  Although the majority felt that the jobs market was in good shape overall a very significant number of people taking part in the survey disagreed.
The one thing that stood out from the survey in stark contrast to the otherwise very positive outlook from respondents looking for jobs in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology sector was that the majority or respondents did not expect to receive a significant pay rise with the majority expecting nothing at all. The largest group (29.8%) of respondents expected to receive no pay rise what so ever.
When consulted about the wider economy the responses were not quiet as positive as their feelings about the Pharmaceutical / Biotech sector.  Asked about how long left we have to go before the Credit Crunch starts to lift, the outlook was predicted to be bleak.  47.1% of respondents feel that we have at least 18 months to go before things start to get better and 43.9% believe that it was going to be between 12 and 18 months.
CK Clinical also asked respondents for there general thoughts about the state of the jobs market and opinions varied greatly from those that generally felt that the Pharmaceutical market was in a very strong position to those that felt that the exact opposite.  Anecdotal evidence and comments also give the impression that the contract market is in a stronger position than the permanent jobs market. However no quantitative data has been gathered to support this.

Summary
The fact that such a large number of people within the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology sector plan to move for career progression and that employees feel that their current employers have not been negatively effected by the economic downturn lead us to believe that job seekers in these industries are genuinely positive about the career prospects available.
At first review this may lead us all to believe that people working within the field of Research and Development are just very optimistic. However, they do have an eye on the wider market and the optimism does not stretch as far as the rest of the economy. To me this proves that they aren’t just optimists they genuinely do believe that the Pharmaceutical marketplace is still very strong. Despite recent announcements of cut backs most people from our survey are patting themselves on the back for choosing a career in Pharmaceuticals or Biotechnology rather than finance after all.  

CK Clinical
CK Clinical is a specialist recruitment company working within the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical devices sector. CK Clinical recruit for Data Managers, Clinical Research Associates, Clinical Project Managers, Drug Safety Associates, Medical Information officers, Clinical Research Physicians, Medics, Regulatory Affairs Executives and Regulatory Consultants from 2nd role in industry up to board level.  If you are seeking career advice or are looking for a new position in 2009, please email CK Clinical at info@ckclinical.co.uk, call on 01438743047 or visit our website at www.ckclinical.co.uk.

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CK Clinical Provide a specialist recruitment service to the Pharmaceutical Industry.. We specialise in the recruitment of Clinical Trials, Regulatory, Drug safety, Data Management, Medical Information and Clinical Research Physicians and Medical staff.