Why grassroots talent pipelines are crucial for your biomanufacturing business
Kelly LIfe Sciences • Oct 18, 2022

​In the USA, demand for biomanufacturing talent is predicted to outstrip supply early next year (2023). There are some hugely interesting dynamics at play, but whichever way you look at it: nurturing early-career talent is the best long-term solution. We explore the trend - and share an upcoming opportunity to meet lots of talent at once.

​The talent landscape is pretty sparse in biomanufacturing at the moment, albeit for all the right reasons. Interest, investment and productivity are at an all-time high, which means demand has grown rapidly. This is partly down to the pandemic highlighting the importance of getting new products to market (quickly), which has led to important regulatory changes, as well as huge injections of funding. But new technologies also play a big part in this advancement.

​The number of graduates in this field is growing, although relatively few academic facilities offer the full GMP experience that many employers are looking for. Not only that, but the synthetic biology sector extends far beyond healthcare. The graduates and early career scientists you want to hire can also be snapped up by companies creating synthetic meat or leather, for example. These organisations are strong competition because their GMP protocols are less stringent, so they can more easily afford to train ‘on the job’ and work with candidates who lack experience, but also because sustainability is a huge priority for younger generations entering the workforce.

​We looked at some of the solutions to this, among other talent issues, in a recent article on the future of hiring in Cell & Gene Therapy, which touches on the idea of nurturing the talent of the future. But what does that look like in action?

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How to nurture the biomanufacturers of the future

​There are lots of ways you can approach the monumental task of creating a strong pipeline of talent. Your strategy should be concerned with volume and quantity of candidates supported, of course, but in order to create a true pipeline there also needs to be a degree of connection with your business. Here’s how to achieve both of those things.

​Put your money where your mouth is

​If you really want a strong talent pool to choose from, you might just have to roll up your sleeves and create it yourself. That means funding the training, or parts of it, that matter the most. Of course, if you’re a small or young business, that’s likely not going to be possible - although the rest of this list is! But for big businesses that require large numbers of skilled candidates, creating your own in-depth training, or working with academic institutions to supplement theirs, is a powerful way to ensure you have a steady stream of candidates with all the right skills. For example, by offering your GMP facilities for local colleges to use, to allow for extra training, or by creating learning materials that students can reference in their studies.

​Start a conversation

​So how do you create that all-important connection between your organisation and potential candidates? You create opportunities for conversation. You’ll need to create or support a space where the candidates you’re interested in might gather, but once you have their attention all you need to do is share. Share insights and details about life as a biomanufacturing professional. Share stories about career paths, achievements and exciting projects. But also open the channels for communication. Run lectures and talks with dedicated Q&A sessions, have an email address where people can reach out to you, put a representative in place on a schedule to allow people to come and talk to them.

​Meet them where they are

​The upcoming generation of talent are digital natives. It takes more than a great website to catch their attention - you need a comprehensive online presence. That means social media - even if only LinkedIn - that shares details about your business and responds in a timely and human way to any queries. It means things like chat support for people using your website. It can also mean video content, such as ‘day in the life’ videos about different roles and the workplace culture. Talk about the things that millennials and GEN X/Y/Z in particular are interested in when it comes to their careers: money, flexibility, D&I, sustainability and how you’re changing the world for the better. All of this means that when students at your local college decide to do a quick check of ‘that company that’s launching a new course’ or ‘that person that came to do a talk’, they get inspired (rather than confused).

​Embed yourself in the ecosystem

​The academic ecosystem stretches far and wide - you’ll already have plenty of connections there, of course! But more and deeper relationships are always valuable. Start by exploring how you can contribute to the existing curriculum - perhaps allow a lab tour at your premises. Run a careers day, offer placements, see if you can get involved with running additional (or even core) lectures. Offer your employees the opportunity to volunteer at local academic institutions, or even in local community projects.

​And of course, while colleges and universities are at the heart of the ecosystems, specialist recruiters are there, too. If you work with us (or an organisation like us) ask about our connections! We love opportunities to introduce our network of contacts to each other to find new ways to overcome the challenges of the future.


​Tomorrow’s problems require novel solutions

​We also love to come up with new solutions to these challenges ourselves. That’s why we’re holding Europe’s first online Life Sciences Careers Convention on 17 November 2022. While we don’t usually shamelessly plug like this, we are very excited about this event!  We expect to welcome thousands of people to the event. There will be candidates of all levels looking for their next career opportunities, as well as scientists who are interested in what’s next in life sciences, those who want to extend their network and, of course, companies looking to promote their own roles. If you’d like to be one of those companies and spread the word about why your business is a great place to work, let’s connect!

​It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet and chat to candidates from all over the world. They will be able to book sessions to talk with you, download your materials and watch videos. We’ll also have a live virtual jobs board that you can contribute to. And the candidates will be able to enjoy a keynote talk, roundtable discussions in many different languages, one-to-one coaching with our consultants and networking activities. This event spans the whole life sciences industry (biomanufacturing and beyond!) and will feature content in English, French, German and Italian. It promises to be an exciting new way to network in our industry.

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If you’d like to know more, don’t miss updates on our Kelly Life Sciences LinkedIn page.

Change. How to turn your fear into fuel for a rocket move and wake up in a different reality.

14 Aug, 2023
Rephrasing the famous song, “Love is in the air”, let’s talk about change is in the air – and everywhere. We grow. We change. Look at your childhood photos. Watch your kid, your nephew, your niece. The change is there, and it’s incredible. Nature is constantly changing. We wait for summer as the time to enjoy outdoor activities and gardening, for a quick visit to the beach, or simply take time to relax and spend time with family, friends and loved ones. We wait for winter (even if we never see snow falling) to decorate the house for the holidays, pack presents for the people we love and unpack our own. The colour of the leaves changes, the weather shifts, and flowers blossom in their time – the landscape is constantly transforming. The world around us is changing. We travel to other countries and learn new things, cultures and languages. We take on new hobbies. We get new skills. After a couple of minor kitchen accidents (sometimes), we can cook delicious dishes and get compliments from family and friends. We transform our bodies at the gym or simply by creating the habit of walking every day. We meet new people, we sometimes fall in love, we build families, we have kids. And if you step back for a second, you realise you might have met your other half by pure accident. But you took a leap of faith into the unknown. We embrace many types of unknown change, except for the one that can change how we live five days a week – to change jobs. “I am too old/too young to change”, “I’m used to this environment; It’s my comfort zone”, “Well, I don’t get any promotion, and what I do doesn’t change the world, but it’s stable”, “I am afraid to ask for more interesting projects. What if my manager fires me?”. We often don’t want to change because that step requires a vision, courage, external support, and a leap of faith into the unknown. Scary? Yes. But also promising. A step into the unknown? Yes. But it can open a new door. Do your inner values marry what you do? Yes, it is essential. There is nothing terrible about staying in your comfort zone. At some stage of your career, staying put can be an excellent decision. But if you feel that you need a change – talk to Kelly. We don’t mind going the extra mile and support your wish to embrace the change. The one which will give meaning to what you do, feel proud, motivated and fulfilled. Ready for changing? We’ll make sure your talent can truly shine.

Balance. Why it is essential to keep your eyes on your destination and not to listen to applause.

10 Aug, 2023
You’ve seen these guys before when a circus came to your city or maybe on TV. They walk on a wire at an impressive height, sometimes without insurance, sometimes with a long stick that probes the void right and left. They walk slowly, trying the wire with their toes first, making small steps, their eyes fixed on the small platform where they plan to land soon. They never watch down. They don’t listen to an audience that applauses or gasps in awe. They are concentrated on keeping their balance. To keep balance. Let’s come down from the wire above the arena or stage. Let’s look closer at balance, where it has its roots and the secrets of keeping it. Is it an art? Or is it a skill? Can you learn to keep balance? Or is it an innate skill that only gymnasts, figure skaters, circus artists and ballet dancers are born with? Want to know the secrets of a ballerina that must perform 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at a high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe? First, keeping balance is a skill people must learn for years. In ballet, sport, circus, real life, and… work life. A ballerina is taught to pick one point and to fix her eyes on it when she makes her 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe. She focuses on one thing that keeps her upright. She doesn’t look anywhere else. Gymnasts in some disciplines are constantly trained to feel the bar under their feet. They are prepared to land precisely on the bar after they jump, and the incredible contortions we admire in competitions. But let’s come back to the circus artists we have begun with. Often, they have a long stick in their hands to keep their balance. Is their secret hidden in the stick? And what is the secret? You don’t need to be a ballet dancer, a gymnast, or a circus artist to get the idea of balance. Here are your first two steps in your balance training: 1. Keep your main priorities in mind. And have a clear idea about what is very important for you and where you are ready to compromise. But don’t listen to external opinions that don’t align with your ideals. Forget about the audience’s applause – focus on you. 2. Use some help to stay upright and get to your goals. Imagine your life split on two ends of the helping stick, your job is on one end, and your private life is on another. How comfortable do you feel at your height now with the load on both ends? You need support. We at Kelly pay a lot of attention to balance. The balance between people’s private lives and their jobs. The balance between feeling appreciated and professional goals or between achieving extraordinary results and being inspired. Talk to Kelly today. We are not ballet coaches or sports trainers, but we know much about how important work/life balance is in our lives.

Inspiration. Why we all are artists and how to restore the sparkle

03 Aug, 2023
We often associate certain qualities with individuals who seem to possess a natural talent for creativity. We convince ourselves that painting, singing, or dancing are pursuits reserved for these "real" artists while we remain mere spectators. Creativity? Inspiration? No, it's not about me.
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