How the Great Resignation is Driving Change in Medtech, Biotech and Academia

The Great Resignation might be the latest iteration, but the broader concept of a gig economy has been around for quite some time now (since the 1900’s, to be absolutely precise). It has been referred to by several names, knowledge economy and passion economy being a couple of those, but only emerged as a real possibility of an alternative work lifestyle sometime in the late nineties. This was undoubtedly boosted by the rise of the digital era and the parallel emergence of talent marketplaces that aimed to connect these freelancers on flexible schedules with companies looking for cost-effective, high-impact solutions.

Past and Future Trends – The Great Resignation

Whilst the great depression of the 30’s accelerated the original notion of the gig economy by making it more appealing to find work as migrants, this acted as more of a negative reinforcement of the lifestyle’s advantages. However, more recently, several factors have combined to raise the profile of remote working and the gig economy through a more positive reinforcement angle. The global pandemic, its subsequent lockdowns and the growing inclination towards remote working has resulted in a new phenomenon termed ‘The Great Resignation’, which has gradually witnessed medtech and biotech firms foster a collaborative work culture and look outside their organization for solutions, tapping into on-demand freelance consultants such as medical writers, product development experts and regulatory consultants.

At the beginning of the pandemic, as the first step that led to the great resignation, we saw a trend of younger and less-tenured workers leaving their jobs. A study conducted by LinkedIn found that the number of people who updated their LinkedIn profile and found another job increased year-on-year by 54%, suggesting a general inclination amongst people to hunt for better opportunities. Generation Z were highest amongst the ones to switch their jobs at 80%, followed by millennials at 50%. Sectors that suffered the most were hospitality and healthcare. In the healthcare sector, the number of employees who quit their jobs in 2021 was 3.6% higher than in 2020. This is attributed to workers feeling overwhelmed and overworked by working on the frontlines for several months. 

As the pandemic entered its second year, we saw older and more-tenured workers also follow suit and fuel the great resignation . The main growth in resignation rates came from workers in higher-paid industries like healthcare, finance, tech, and other knowledge worker fields in 2021, according to data published by Visier.

This massive dip in employment led to a  boom in the freelancing industry. In fact, Statista says  that 50% of Generation Z respondents between the ages of 18 and 22 participate in freelance work. This comes as no surprise, as the younger generation today values flexibility, freedom and mental health above all else, reinforcing the notion that the great resignation is the first step to a future of collaborative flexible networks, open innovation and a workforce not tied down by geographical constraints and barriers.

This attitude has given rise to a potential alternate schedule where  their lives don’t fit into traditional 9-to-5 structure. Instead, they are looking to optimize their jobs to fit into the lives they want to live.  According to a survey by Upwork research- 20% of Americans say they are considering a switch to full-time freelance work. This mass influx to freelance work is driven by people prioritising standard of living and mental health over making money. An estimated 2+ Million workers have already embraced the great resignation and joined the freelance economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.With such great advancement of technology, the world has become a smaller and more accessible place because of which, an economy running on freelance work is not just a possibility, but a reality now. As a result, the demand for freelancers is growing and that worker sector is, for once, calling the shots. The role reversal has led to the employers having to negotiate with workers in order to attract the best talent and retain them on terms that appeal to their preferences.

With companies that were previously reluctant to wade into the freelance ecosystem forced into exploring that option due to the lockdowns, the advantages that this system brings has been driven home in an emphatic manner. Right from the overall cost of operation to employee productivity and mental health, flexible working styles and schedules seem to be here to stay even after the inevitable lifting of the global restrictions. 

ADP research institute talked to 27,000 workers from 27 countries and found out that employee productivity was getting affected due to increasing stress. High-stress employees are less connected to their organizations, and more than four times as likely to quit than their less-overwhelmed peers. Almost half of the workers said that their mental-health issues were hurting their job performance. Workers who played critical and lifesaving roles during pandemic from Biotech, pharma and MedTech, have especially burned themselves out. As per a Microsoft survey, number of employees who quit their jobs in 2021 was 3.6% higher than in 2020, and this is attributed to being overwhelmed at work and overworked on the frontline for many months.  

This situation factors into the great resignation, as the Covid-19 pandemic has given workforces a new found respect for life and they are not willing for their job to consume them. So, what did employers do to keep the most crucial cogs in the corporate machinery from falling apart? The answer was- flexible or hybrid workplace model, which is proving extremely popular according to findings by McKinsey and Company – more than four out of five who worked in hybrid models over the past two years preferred continuing to work in the same going forward. 

Despite the  immense advantages that a hybrid work model brings, its potential to create an unequal playing field can turn over its dividend quickly into liability for the company. Tapping into the normalisation of the hybrid work environment and deriving its benefits is a delicate task faced by employers. As per the latest findings by ADP research institute, diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, is also becoming a make-or-break issue, with more than 75% of the global workplace signalling a willingness to walk away from employers that don’t have a DEI policy or fail to deal with gender-biased pay practices. Therefore, adopting ill-conceived hybrid work models could speed departures, decrease inclusion, and harm performance. For a inclusive hybrid work model, work–life support, team building, and mutual respect should be treated as priorities by leaders. 

Another experience over the past two years faced by the workforce is the blurring of lines between work and home on an unprecedented global scale. They no longer see themselves disconnected from home when they’re at work, and vice versa. They are a whole person everywhere they go. Employees want their employers to recognize and accept that wholeness. Employees can choose to work whenever they please and from wherever they please. They want to have the liberty to schedule their work outside of regular meeting hours so that they can focus on getting work done peacefully and without being disturbed or distracted. 

The rapidly increasing need of workers is staying grounded to other aspects of their life whilst working. Flexibility is not about location; it’s about something far more valuable—time.  The need for flexibility ignited during the pandemic has revolutionised how the gig economy operates. It has removed the rigidity of a traditional workday and replaced it with task-based focus and outcomes.. As part of the economic revival post pandemic, companies need to lead a more engaged and connected labour force—both at home and in the workplace. As per Jobvite’s 2021 Job Seeker Nation Report, in  the Life Science industry, 85% of managers believe that having teams with remote workers will become the new norm. With many more companies moving towards a hybrid way of working, especially the large pharmaceutical companies including GSK, Pfizer and Novartis leading the way, Life Science employers can’t afford to not offer employees some degree of flexibility post-pandemic. The bonus is that these changes and shifts can come without sacrificing productivity, and corporate earnings during the pandemic recovery stands to be proof of the same. S&P 500 profits expected to show strongest growth since 2018, in line with probably the best expected performance in the last ten years.

The Hybrid work model frees up plenty of time which can be utilised by employees to learn and upskill along with their jobs. Since the workers are no longer dependent on their employer, they have complete autonomy to plan out their day and make up some time to pursue knowledge and skill enhancement. This will mutually benefit both the employee and the employer. For the former, the market value would increase which can aid in finding more gigs or climbing the career ladder. For the latter, the cost for spending in training and development will be saved and they would have great talent within the existing pool of employees which would overall increase the value of the firm. 

Remote Working in Academia

However, the true impact of the the great resignation trend is emphasized by the fact that the gig economy has seen a swelling in its ranks through the addition of workers operating in more academic domains – including subject matter experts, researchers and science consultants previously operating in full time university and lab roles. This has subsequently seen a rise in medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical businesses, amongst others, explore alternative methods of hiring in order to tap into this remote talent available on-demand.

This offers myriad benefits, especially for smaller businesses without extensive R & D teams within their premises. These organizations can now turn to remote scientific consultants to test ideas, especially ground-breaking ones that would normally require in-house expertise working around the clock. Prototype and experimental ideas can lead to a market product quicker by tapping into this global ecosystem of experts accessible on flexible schedules, made available in greater numbers due to the impact of the great resignation. Most significantly, it offers companies the opportunity to expand their talent search and broaden their chances of finding experts with the precise niche skill set they’re looking for, even if they’re on the other side of the world.

Being able to collaborate virtually has opened doors to tap into talent available in any nook or corner of the world. This new possibility of remote working and the race to find solutions for new crises that brought the world to a standstill, has  led to many new COVID focussed biotech firms cropping up and disrupting the market. Adagio Therapeutics and Twist Biosciences are perfect examples of small biotech firms that created an implosion in the market whilst still at a nascent stage.  

It also led to incumbent biotech firms i.e., firms that existed before the pandemic, being defined by it. Abcellera got launched into stardom due to its collaboration with Eli Lilly that spawned the antibody treatment – bamlanivimab, which went on to become the first treatment authorized for treating COVID-19. Biological E Limited’s corvbevax is being used to vaccinate children aged from 5-12 years. Cadila healthcare developed ZyCoV-D, the world’s first plasmid DNA. 

However, this popularity did not come easy to the biotech & pharma industry. Due to pandemic restrictions, they could not continue their experiments and research. How did they tackle this challenge? Implementation of Decentralised Clinical Trials (DCT) was the solution. Even though it existed even before the pandemic , the great resignation and remote working sparked an exponential  wave of change. It doesn’t require patients to come to a trial site time after time to participate. IT involves implementing technology in various forms, from telemedicine visits to electronic consent. This has improved the efficiency and fastened the drug trials. COVID  gave  major thrust towards remote work in biotech and pharma, with nearly 50% of trial sites and 36% of trial sponsors saying they had made technology investments to minimize pandemic disruptions

Rise of Remote Talent Marketplaces Amidst The Great Resignation

The market disruption due sudden explosion of the disease is just one of the many challenges industries and economies faced across the world. It has led to a complete change in the way we conduct business. What COVID-19 and the ensuing the Great Resignation have unveiled is how remote working can also derive the same or even better efficiency and productivity from businesses. It offers more manageable schedules, more experts and more cross-sectional collaboration. Freelancers deliver their work with immense expertise. They are highly qualified individuals with extensive experience and technical know-how of their respective fields. In short, they are their own business.  Due to the ability to strike out on their own, they are highly driven to deliverables per clients’ needs and exceed their expectations. 

Cost-effectiveness is a great additional benefit of hiring freelancer industry experts. Continuous innovation is integral part of companies whose niche areas are science, medicine and biotech. They require expert personnel to test ideas in order to take it forward to the development stage. Smaller companies face a huge constraint here. Such companies cannot afford to scout, hire and on-board a full-time scientist. Also, these companies utilize the experts only on need basis and for limited time.

Here is where freelance scientists come as a great relief for companies. Businesses can work with them on very schedules as per their comfort, and rehire project demands. Additionally, since you can get direct access to their services, the additional cost of employing them, navigating through agencies, recruitment fees and middle-man payments are eliminated. Collaborating with freelancers on a need basis helps in reducing redundancy and optimises business operations. With more academic scholars and industry experts gravitating towards freelancing, clients have the luxury to have their pick from the market.  However, it can pose a challenge to pick the right talent and expert for required projects and listed tasks.  

Here’s where platforms such as Kolabtree, Upwork and Toptal, that can provide an opportunity to pick and choose from the world’s best minds under one roof, play a significant role. These companies not only promote a flexible work schedule where companies can hire freelancers without signing a minimum duration of hire contract, thus using them to test ideas and work on projects as and when the company requires an external consultant. Some of the more popular ones, such as Kolabtree, also provide complete data security and confidentiality by ensuring secure payments and protection of intellectual property whilst hiring freelancers.

With various provision of  essential services like assurance of data confidentiality, ease of payment, easy collaboration, choice of multiple  experts and freelancers and competitive prices, such platforms have significantly eased the transition from the great resignation into a full-fledged knowledge and passion economy.

Scout and hire freelance experts for niche scientific projects on the secure Kolabtree platform.