Science Labour Market Trends 2008-2009
Fri 14 Nov 2008
The 2008 SRG Science labour survey, provides some really positive news for UK Scientists.
The survey, undertaken in October 2008, was completed by 532 UK employers of scientists including food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil, petrochemical, biotechnology and healthcare companies, research institutes and government departments. All were involved in recruitment and were mostly working in an HR or senior technical/scientific role.
The key findings of the survey were:
- Companies in our survey are currently using more permanent scientific staff than they did 12 months ago. Scotland and South East England recorded the highest above average increase over the last year, whilst North West England recorded a slight decrease. The Oil/Gas/Petrochem sector has seen the highest increase whilst the Food & Beverage sector was the only industry to reduce the numbers of scientists utilised.
- Four times as many companies are looking to increase the numbers of permanent scientific staff they use over the next 12 months compared to those looking at a decrease. All regions and sectors are forecasting increases, with Biotechnology, Oil & Petrochem, Health Care and Pharmaceuticals recording the highest increases.
The forecast increase in permanent scientific staffing levels for 2009 is a surprise given current economic indicators. However, sectors such as Biotechnology, Health Care and Pharmaceuticals have long-term development projects and consistently increasing levels of demand for their products. They are consequently fairly resistant to short term swings in the economic cycle. It is therefore quite possible that the demand for permanent scientists will continue to grow healthily during 2009 in contrast to other areas of the economy.
Click on the link below to see full survey:
UK science labour market trends 2008.pdf