Key takeaways
- The right benefits can help you stand out in the competitive life sciences sector. With a niche and specialist talent pool, the life sciences sector can be especially competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining the in-demand talent. Delivering rich, tailored benefits that are communicated effectively is key.
- The time is now to prepare for Pay Transparency laws. With many life sciences employers sourcing talent from mainland Europe, it's important that they start preparing for the upcoming EU Pay Transparency laws as soon as possible.
- These challenges aren't just life science-specific: the challenges discussed (how to compete for talent, navigate EU transparency laws, and attract people to less flexible roles) could apply to any business, so everyone has a lesson to learn.
At NFP, we are privileged to have numerous clients that operate in the life sciences sector. These business are at the helm of innovation, development and discovery across a diverse range of vital areas, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and research labs. This specialist line of work makes them exciting business to work with and work for, but can also cause niche challenges, especially when it comes to the attraction and retention of great people.
Having worked closely with these organisations, many of whom we support with specialist human capital solutions (relating to employee benefits consultancy and brokerage, as well as HR, people and talent), we know firsthand the recruitment challenges that businesses in this sector can face, and importantly, how they can look to solve them.
1. In-demand talent demand richer employee benefits
With a limited pool of highly skilled individuals, and demand rising across the sector, many life sciences employers are finding that attractive salaries alone are no longer enough. To stand out, you must now rethink the breadth and depth of your employee benefits strategy.
Key pockets of life sciences talent tend to be more tech-savvy and socially conscious individuals. These people are not only highly skilled, but they’re also highly aware of their worth and tend to appreciate employers with a commitment to beliefs and values that match their own. That’s why our benchmarking reports are showing us a broader trend towards life sciences employers making benefits more tailored to individual circumstances.
“How can I cost-effectively deliver impactful benefits that help attract and retain top talent?”
In our experience, when employers hear ‘more generous’ benefits, they often take that to mean ‘more expensive to offer’ benefits, but that isn’t necessarily the case. As well as mental health support, enhanced parental leave, and sustainability initiatives, we urge our life sciences clients to consider benefits that align with the lifestyle preferences of the people they’re looking to attract and retain.
Rather than blindly investing in best-in-class benefits, targeting your benefits strategy to your peoples’ needs and challenges will be a more impactful, potentially more cost-effective way of standing out to top talent. Benefits such as cycle-to-work schemes, climate-conscious pension funds, volunteer days, or subsidised wellness memberships can all help you signal your commitment to key values and build employee loyalty.
“How can I ensure my benefits are understood and valued by my people?”
What really matters isn’t just the benefits on offer, but how they’re explained to both potential and existing employees. Even the most impressive employee benefits packages may be ineffective if people don’t fully understand what the benefits are, when they might need them most and how they can utilise them to support their key challenges and needs.
By offering benefits that have real meaning and communicating a message that shows the company values innovation, wellbeing, and sustainability, life sciences employers can create an employee benefits package that not only attracts talent but keeps people committed for the long term.
2. New legislation creates barrier to European talent
The competition for specialist talent doesn’t stop at national borders. For many UK life sciences employers, recruiting from Europe is not just a strategic choice—it’s a necessity. Mainland Europe continues to be a critical source of talent for more specialist, niche roles, but with this heightened opportunity comes increasing complexity.
While the directive is not yet in force EU-wide, several European countries have already begun aligning with the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which mandates clear salary disclosures in job advertisements, among other requirements.
Although these rules do not currently apply to UK-based employees, we expect the UK may move toward similar expectations in the near future, particularly for employers competing in international talent markets.
“How will EU Pay Transparency Laws affect UK employers hiring talent from Europe?”
For UK employers hiring in the EU, this legislation is increasingly relevant. In countries where local laws already reflect EU Pay Transparency standards, job listings targeting EU applicants must include salary ranges and justification for pay structures. Employers may also need to prepare for:
- Pay audits
- Employee requests for comparative pay data
- Public reporting obligations (in some cases)
The implications go beyond recruitment—they impact employer branding, internal pay equity, and overall HR compliance.
If your business is actively hiring from mainland Europe, it’s important to stay ahead of these developments. Failure to comply with local transparency requirements could result in legal risks, reputational harm, or even candidate withdrawal, especially as salary openness becomes a standard expectation among jobseekers.
“How can my business look to prepare for the impact of this legislation?”
Life sciences businesses should start by auditing their pay structures for equity and consistency, ensuring all job roles have clearly defined salary bands. Hiring managers must be trained in communicating these ranges confidently, while job ads should be reviewed for compliance. Beyond legal compliance, pay transparency can send a strong message of fairness and inclusivity - values that can resonate strongly with the life sciences workforce.
At NFP, we support life sciences employers of all sizes to prepare for the changing landscape of pay transparency legislation and the wider implications for their business and workforce. Navigating new and evolving legislation—especially across multiple jurisdictions—can be complex. That’s why many organisations turn to experienced partners to ensure they are compliant, competitive, and ready for what’s ahead.
3. Lack of flexibility impacts recruitment for core services roles
While the headline recruitment challenge in life sciences is often attracting world-class scientists or R&D leaders, a growing number of employers are now struggling to fill more generalist, core services roles. One key reason? The lab-based nature of many specialist roles in the life sciences sector. This has naturally shaped a workplace culture in which being on-site is the norm, but in today’s world where flexibility is a must-have for many people, this is starting to create some recruitment challenges.
Many generalist candidates, who could easily find remote or hybrid roles in other industries, are hesitant to apply for life sciences companies that appear to enforce office-based working. As a result, businesses are losing out on experienced talent for important roles that don’t actually require on-site presence.
“What can we do to increase engagement with our job advertisements?”
If they have decided a full return to work is appropriate for them, life sciences employers should actively champion flexibility where it’s genuinely possible and rethink how they communicate this to potential new hires. Highlighting hybrid options, core hours, results-focused working, or even fully remote possibilities for appropriate roles can dramatically expand the pool of interested applicants.
“How can my organisation still look to engage my people even with a full-time office culture?”
To revisit one of our earlier points, flexibility needs to be backed up with ‘above and beyond’ benefits that show you understand and value the broader needs of your people. Perhaps consider benefits that enable people to come into the workplace more willingly or freely, such as commuter subsidies, caregiver support, or learning and development stipends that signal real long-term investment.
Think other sectors don’t have to take note? Think again
While this article has framed these as challenges that primarily life sciences employers need to consider, there’s lessons here that employers across all sectors could do with paying attention to:
Competing for talent: Around 1 in 2 UK jobseekers now cite a strong benefits offering as the most important factor when considering a new role1. The need for tailored employee benefits packages that go above and beyond the bare minimum is therefore clear across the board.
EU Pay Transparency Laws: as we mentioned, we believe it’s only a matter of time before pay transparency laws apply to all UK businesses. It’s never too late to start getting prepared, and the earlier you do so the more of an advantage you could have over your competition.
Navigating return to office backlash: more and more businesses have either implemented or are considering implementing a full return to the office for their people, in a bid to increase collaboration, creativity and innovation. If your organisation were to follow suit, knowing how to navigate this change with confidence may be key to maintaining business as usual.
1 - https://www.zestbenefits.com/blog/report-2024-the-growing-importance-of-employee-benefits/