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In recent times, the Healthcare and life sciences sector has undergone significant change, with the global pandemic posing major disruptions to talent mobility. As heightened travel and border restrictions continue to transform traditional modes of work, companies are turning to remote working arrangements not just to sustain business operations, but also as a strategic way to expand their talent pool.
Greater acceptance to working from home has initiated a sea change in not just attitude to work but also the potential for recruiting talent from afar. Page’s consultants across the globe have reported the positive impact of this trend on the quality of hiring. It’s no wonder that recruiters and talent alike are cheering.
“At the moment, I am working with businesses that I worked with prior to Covid, who previously expected people in the office 4-5 days a week, and now they’re open to candidates spending 1-2 days a week in the office. This means that I can stretch my candidate pool to a wider area because someone would consider traveling two hours if they’re only doing it once a week. So, I think that this shift has definitely enabled clients to have not only better-quality candidates but also a higher quantity of candidates,” says Chloe Baverstock, Michael Page UK.
“With remote working being increasingly accepted in the HLS sector because of the pandemic, companies are more open to hire candidates from abroad. “A good example is the business development profile, for which it does not matter where the candidate is located,” explains Marta Guiluz, Page Personnel from Spain.
“Remote working is a good way for Chinese healthcare and life sciences companies to attract overseas high-quality, executive-level talent, which are quite in shortage in China,” says Annie Shen, Partner at Page Executive China. “While the execution team is based in China, talent do not need to relocate to China and can arrange to work remotely online. With the flexibility and other attractive factors, overseas talent are more willing to join a Chinese domestic company.”
There is great value in developing fresh talent, explains Guiluz, as she offers these insights to clients in search of candidates in the HLS sector. “It is important to be flexible in terms of the specific experience and personal profile of the candidates. “
Be open to junior profiles, develop and upskill them as such candidates tend to be more engaged and loyal to the company. Also consider PhD profiles who may not have enough industry experience but bring a wealth of knowledge to the role. Candidates highly value an employer’s openness to the home- office working style since technology permits many positions to be managed from home.”
In France, too, the trend of remote working is likely to continue. “Most of our clients expect their employees to come into the office 1-2 days per week. In some pharmaceutical companies, where before Covid-19, 30% of the staff was remote, now 99% of the staff is working from home. It is a big change but one that is poised to continue into the near future,” says Emmanuel Hervio, Michael Page France.
“The pandemic has shown that being physically in the office is not the only way to be productive. Covid has forced us to work from home, and we have learned that we can be productive from home as well,” says Baverstock.
“With more international talent casting their eyes on Chinese companies, companies need to continue flexible work policies in the post-COVID-19 world. They need to also build strong employer branding and do well in talent echelon construction to attract more high-quality talent,” suggests Shenglan Liu, Associate Partner at Page Executive China.
Travel and movement are heavily restricted around the world since 2020 and continues to be the trend in the near future, pushing for organisations to devise innovative solutions to work and living.
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