Life Sciences Post Brexit
Government and campaigns
While the uncertainty around Brexit continues, supporting recruiters ahead of, and post-Brexit is a top priority. The key message coming out of the recent Life Sciences roundtable discussion at REC HQ was to encourage your EU candidates to get ‘signed-up to settled status’.
We were joined by Laura Collister, the Brexit Lead at the BioIndustry Association and Stephen Hall, Head of Immigration at Kerman and Co.
Life Sciences sector leads the way
The life sciences sector has been recognised as a top priority by the government, reflected in the life sciences flagship Industrial Strategy deal. Four of the world’s top six universities for research are based in the UK (Cambridge, Imperial College, Oxford and UCL), and with the industry directly employing at least 220,000 people in the UK, approximately 7% of whom are non-British EU citizens, it’s in everyone’s interest to ensure that the sector is prepared, and can navigate the current uncertainty.
Speaking at the meeting, Chair of the group, and Managing Director of Hyper Recruitment Solutions, Ricky Martin said:
“The life sciences sector is a life-saving industry; ensuring that we get a Brexit deal that supports our industry is critical for patients, and our future as a world-leading research hub.”
Get signed-up
The key take home message for life sciences’ recruiters is that you should encourage EU nationals to move to the UK before the Brexit deadline. For those Europeans already here, things should be straight forward, but for those arriving after Brexit, things are unsure – especially if there is a change of government. For those workers already here, the number one tip for you to give your EU candidates is applying for settled status now. Your candidates can even leave the UK for up to two years without losing it.
Looking forward
The EU talent pool has already been disrupted; Office for National Statistics data shows that migration from the EU is at its lowest since 2012. Should we see a hard or no deal Brexit, this could cause a short term decline in productivity, with a longer term question over the UK’s attractiveness to top talent. Should this happen, life sciences recruiters will need to look for new UK talent pools.
Get in touch
The REC Life Sciences Sector group continues to be a leading force in the recruitment industry, with an emphasis on innovation, development and training of the next generation of recruiters. The Executive Committee is keen to represent the views of our membership, so if you have any suggestions for topics you want us to address at meetings, please let us know at neal.suchak@rec.uk.com
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, 19 November, sign up for free here.
For more information on the Life Sciences group, please visit our sector page, and for more information on Brexit, the government’s Good Work Plan, IR35 and our campaigning work, please visit our dedicated hubs:
Share this article