Warning Scotland may lack skills to fill life sciences jobs

Published on Tuesday 20 February 2007 11:59

SCOTLAND'S life sciences sector might struggle to fill the 500-plus jobs promised by the creation of the £59 million Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM), a leading biotech recruitment consultant has claimed.

The stem-cell research centre, planned for Edinburgh by 2010, is expected to create 560 jobs and generate more than 18m a year for the Scottish economy.

But Adrian Brady, co-founder and director of Escape Recruitment, which specialises in the biotech and life sciences sector, said there are no reliable figures showing the graduate talent pipeline, potentially creating a sector struggling to fill jobs.

"It's brilliant to have this kind of initiative planned," said Mr Brady.

"While statistics seem to show an uptake in science-based graduates, people are telling me that these figures include subjects such as sports science and the only uplift is at higher level in schools," said Mr Brady. "That means we're relying on figures that may not reveal the true picture of graduates coming through."

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the number of students graduating in biological science and physical science at Scottish institutions has risen from 18,155 in 2002/03 to 19,925 in 2005/06. But they lump in graduates in subjects such as psychology and zoology.

The life sciences industry faces two key issues, according to Mr Brady, which could undermine the success of SCRM and the wider industry in Scotland, which employs 27,000 people.

Mr Brady is not alone in his concerns. A recent report by the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (Semta) warned the shortage of skills "has been reported with increasing urgency by numerous organisations".

Semta's report said 39 per cent of UK life sciences firms reported "hard-to-fill" posts.

"The consequences of these vacancies that are hard to fill are serious. They include projects not being taken forward, the loss of products in the pipeline and having to turn away work," said Semta. It also identified retention of staff as a problem.

Mr Brady, who admits he has struggled to fill posts, said one problem is low pay at the bottom level driving people into alternative careers, while at higher levels the industry was commercially "unsophisticated" outwith a few significant companies and experienced business participants.

"The reality seems to be that there's more required in terms of co-ordination between the Government, education and industry to get a clear picture of availability of people with the right skills."

The BioIndustry Association Scotland (BIA) said that while there was no shortage of graduates in Scotland, the skills of Scotland's graduates were "not best suited" to the industry and take-up of core disciplines, such as chemistry, was falling.

BIA director Barbara Blaney wants the Government to support higher education establishments' development of bespoke degrees that emphasise "core research, cutting-edge technical skills, industry work placement and business education".