Is the life sciences sector one of the best industries to be involved in?

The life sciences sector is both fascinating and diverse focusing on a wide range of subjects including biology, botany, zoology, microbiology and biochemistry. There are many different job roles available within the field too, with specialist recruiters such as NESGT filling skilled positions, but is the life sciences industry one of the best industries to be involved with?

Productivity double that of national average

When it comes to choosing a career path or taking the brave move to retrain for a different profession, it can be difficult to know which road to take. Finding something that interests you is of paramount importance, but knowing that a particular industry, such as the life sciences sector, excels in productivity and turns over impressive results can sway your decision.

Indeed, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report commissioned by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and supported by the Association of the British Healthcare Industry (ABHI), the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA), reveals how the productivity of the UK life sciences sector is more than double the national average. According to findings, the average productivity of life sciences employees, expressed as gross value added (GVA) is £104,000 compared to a UK GVA average of £49,000.

Positive contributions to the UK economy

Choosing a career involves more than finding a job that matches your skillset. It’s about thinking outside of the box and looking at the long-term potential of a given industry – as this could affect everything from job security to personal progression.

The good news is, the life sciences sector has successful positioned itself as one of the most valued and respected industries in the UK. Other findings from the PwC report show how the life sciences sector contributed £30.7 billion to the UK economy in 2015 providing an estimated tax contribution of £8.6 billion to the Exchequer. What’s more, each job within the life sciences industry supports 2.5 roles outside the sector showing how life sciences acts as a type of scaffolding for other career paths. Impressively, the sector props up more than 482,000 jobs in the UK as a whole.

Widespread appeal

Interestingly, the life sciences sector has a widespread appeal across the UK with every region found to have a UK head office of a life sciences firm. This means jobs are distributed evenly thought the United Kingdom allowing suitable candidates to access top positions with ease.

Moreover, with the government ploughing much-needed investment into the life sciences industry – particularly to support the use of cutting-edge technologies – many companies and life science sectors will grow and flourish. Companies have the potential to expand and develop which in turn could open up an increasing number of opportunities to those with the right skill sets.

So, as you can see, the life sciences sector is certainly an industry of interest for those looking to pursue a new or different job role.