The benefits of starting your life sciences recruitment career in the DACH region

As the war for talent and the Great Resignation continue, many locations, such as the DACH region, are thriving and continuing to innovate in life sciences, making them the ideal locations for anyone looking to start their career during a transformative period.

What is the current outlook for life sciences in the DACH region, and what are the benefits of working as a recruiter in these locations?

The life sciences overview in Germany

Though Germany may often be overlooked for its contributions towards life sciences in favour of other more prominent or long-standing locations, it is ranked the number one healthcare market in Europe by market volume, patients, and manufacturers and providers.

As the fourth largest pharmaceutical market in the world and the largest in Europe, Germany consistently innovates in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotech.

At a market size value of $44.2bn in 2020 in pharmaceuticals, revenue is forecast to hit $65.9bn in 2027, based on historical data – it’s clear that Germany is continuing to grow year-on-year across sectors, including high levels of investment, particularly in biotech.

Scientific and technological breakthroughs are another area of note for those considering a career in life sciences recruitment in Germany, such as call antigen therapies to customise drugs.

Additionally, there has been a considerable and continued rise in expenditure towards the healthcare market in Germany to match growth and factors such as the growing prevalence of diseases.

The life sciences overview in Austria

Life sciences is a fundamental part of the Austrian economy, with around 1,000 companies accounting for a global turnover of €22.4bn (representing around 6% of the Austrian GDP).

The city of Vienna in particular has highly active and innovative biotech and medical devices companies, alongside the presence of numerous venture capitalists that support their fast-growing companies.

Much like Germany and Switzerland, Austria has an active start-up community and an effective government support system for innovative life science companies.

Austria has around 982 companies active in biotechnology, pharma or the medical devices business, and in 2020, more than 60,000 people earned a living working for an Austrian life science company – an increase of 8.9% compared to 2017.

There is also a network of internationally renowned research expertise, with a total of 55 institutions that are dedicated to life sciences research with a strong academic community of university research institutes.

Austria has also experienced dynamic growth rates, with revenue exceeding 16 billion euros – the picture is extremely positive from a growth perspective.

The life sciences overview in Switzerland

The Swiss life sciences sector is globally renowned, attracting record-breaking investments in biotech in 2021, with R&D investments growing to a record high of CHF2.56bn.

Life sciences are an integral part of the Swiss economy, with more than 40% of Swiss exports coming from the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology industries.

The continued resilience of the health and technology sectors in Switzerland resulted in these sectors being the least affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Core cities of Basel, Geneva, and Zurich contribute to more than 50,000 jobs in life sciences in Switzerland, and two of the top 5 pharmaceutical companies globally – Novartis and Roche – were both founded and are headquartered in Switzerland.

There is also the continually strong performance for biotechs in Switzerland, with over 1,000 biotech start-ups located in Switzerland and innovating in fields such as oncology and neurology.

What are the benefits of starting your life sciences recruitment career in the DACH region?

The DACH region is performing strongly in life sciences after a tumultuous, but highly successful, period during the pandemic.

With high innovation across biotech, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, there are vast opportunities for growth for anyone looking to start their life sciences recruitment career and benefit from the significant growth opportunities.

High buoyancy in the job market

Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have proven to have highly resilient life sciences industries, with continuing steady growth in 2022 despite many other industries experiencing a ‘come down’ period after the pandemic.

For those looking for a career in recruitment in these locations, this means there is high job security due to the resilience of the industry.

For example, in Austria alone, there are 405 companies active in biotechnology and pharma, an increase of 11.6% compared to 2017, generating €16.03bn of turnover in 2020, which is an increase of 15%.

Given that these figures are representative of a period of time in which the pandemic was still significantly impacting the industry, there’s no doubt that the DACH region will continue going from success to success and keep recruitment jobs in the area resilient in the meantime.

Continuing innovation

The DACH region is consistently targeted as a key region due to the specialisation and high quality of their technological processes, R&D and general innovative approach to life sciences.

Switzerland in particular specialises in areas such as implants, hearing aids, lab instruments and non-invasive surgical systems.

Companies in the prominent Swiss medtech clusters – Basel, the Lake Geneva region, and Bern – are issued an estimate of 1,200 patents a year.

Similarly, though Austria’s life sciences industry (particularly biotech) is still rather young, generally due to Austrian biotech firms having fewer than 250 employees, these companies shape the field – bioinformatics is a growing and innovative field in Austrian biotech.

For individuals that are looking for exciting, fast-paced work with companies that are in a period of high innovation, the DACH region is ideal.

You can make a difference

The potential to make a positive impact through life sciences recruitment in the DACH region is limitless.

Innovation in the DACH region in response to the rise in prevalence of chronic diseases is an area with the potential to make a significant positive impact through recruitment.

For example, CRISPR Therapeutics, located in Zug, Switzerland, develops treatments based on the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, with its most advanced program being a gene-edited stem cell therapy for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.

There is a wealth of exciting opportunities to be a part of, particularly with projects in their early stages.

In conclusion

The DACH region is home to some of the most innovative, exciting life sciences companies that are making a significant positive impact on the world.

Life sciences recruiters have never been more necessary to the industry than in these regions due to the fast-paced nature of the industry and the necessity for highly skilled talent to contribute to their growth.

The resilience of the market and job certainty combined with the opportunity to be a part of making a difference are only a few of the reasons to start your career as a recruitment consultant in the DACH region.

Are you looking to start your life sciences recruitment career in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland? Take a look at our vacancies to find out more about how you can start today or get in touch with the Panda team.