For the QCS Staffing Life Sciences teams, process engineers are
creating more business than ever before. When it comes to development and
production within pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, they are the people who
deal with everything from troubleshooting day to day issues in the production
plant through to tackling a variety of different equipment, including
bioreactors, ultrafiltration and chromatography skids.
Principal Consultant Tom Gorton reveals
what’s new, and some of the developments to look out for in the world of
process engineering:
What have been the biggest developments in process engineering
over the past year?
Over the course of the last year we haven’t seen any
considerable changes within process engineering as a whole, however we are
currently seeing an increased demand on the skilled workers within this field.
The number of Pharmaceutical and CAPEX projects in the industry are constantly
growing and we are seeing increased levels of project activity. With this comes
an increased demand for process engineers predominantly within
Biotechnology, with a focus on Process Design for new investments.
Is process engineering still largely a candidate-driven market
and what’s the effect of this?
The industry is currently experiencing a very large candidate
shortage: process engineering is a requirement heavy marketplace with an
increasing number of projects in development and in execution phase.
As a result, the shortage of candidates with the relevant skill
sets in the market can present challenges when it comes to identifying the
relevant workers who can get the job done to the high standards we would
expect. When considering candidates in this area, more development needs to go
into training and upskilling them, particularly at entry level, as well as
increasing the longevity of project commitments.
What are the best and most interesting opportunities for process
engineers that you’ve seen recently?
The best opportunities for candidates within this field are
always new facility builds: this allows them to truly take ownership of the
process, decide which processes should be transferred to the facility and
witness everything coming together from the ground up. Core areas where
organisations are investing in these types of projects include the Dublin and
Cork regions in Ireland as well as Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and Austria.
Biotech and Pharmaceutical organisations are also increasingly
taking an interest and investing in areas like Russia, Algeria, Iran, Brazil
and South Korea, with a focus on facility construction programmes.
Do you have any predictions for how the market might change in
the future?
The huge number of upcoming projects in the industry shows no
sign of stopping any time soon. Most areas of the Biotechnology remain vibrant
and busy, but there is an increasing push on investment for Biosimilars:
cheaper copies of existing Biopharmaceutical products manufactured once patents
for the existing official products run out. Gene therapy has been earmarked for
massive growth over the next few years, especially given the rapid development
of medical science over the past few decades: expect this to become a booming
area of business within the next decade.
It is truly a very exciting time for the pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical industry with increasing levels of project investment, which
is only going to improve over the coming years. With this it's crucial to
commit to developing and upskilling new talent, so they can continue to
innovate and drive the market for years to come.
To find out more about some of our current opportunities at
QCS Staffing, search our latest jobs or contact the team today.
