It may just be anecdotal evidence, but I’ve been getting hit up with a lot of questions recently regarding the state of the clinical research industry and my predictions for 2013 with specific regards towards employment and other such related topics. In what is actually shaping out to be a very busy year for most CRO’s and, logically, for research sites as well, the actual hiring rates for research clinics and CRO’s for that matter, may not be indicative of this trend. In this Pharmalot article from a few months ago, Parexel, a large CRO, was experimenting with ways in which it can “fine tune” its operations by using university graduate students as opposed to hiring more staff such as CRA’s. While perhaps a unique and isolated example, word on the street (is there even a clinical research street?) from many research clinic owners and directors is that hiring is at least on pause for the time being as study coordinators will just have to “deal with a significant amount of increased workload”, a metric otherwise known as “study per coordinator”. Speculation from myself and others I have been in correspondence with who shall remain anonymous, is that the uncertainty regarding the Affordable Care Act and its impact on the clinical research industry is making many research sites as well as several CRO’s wary of hiring and making further investments in their workforce until more can be understood in regards to the future of the industry in the next coming years. In case you missed it, Darshan Kulkarni and I did an in-depth interview regarding “ObamaCare and Clinical Trials” which you can find here.
While many research clinic owners and managers can tell you that they are experiencing a particularly busy year when measured by the sheer number of studies that are out there at the moment, they are attempting to conduct these studies with their existing staff members, opting to give these current employees raises as opposed to hiring (and training) new staff. Very much related to this topic is the amount of money that these research sites are spending on training for their existing research teams. An anonymous source (Research Site Owner from the NorthEast) told me recently, “instead of sending [my] coordinators to weekend or evening GCP courses that require several months and cost several thousand dollars per employee, we have begun using less expensive online vendors combined with developing our own internal training programs and SOP’s to remain compliant with trainings such as GCP and the like”, continuing with “We have not noticed any issues thus far with respect to training competency or compliance”. If I can get a shameless plug, my recently launched “Introduction To Clinical Research” DVD (complete with training certificates and all) has been doing very well since it launched this month, although I cannot claim to be a prophet as I had intended to launch this DVD back in 2010, I still can’t complain.
Just how long this potential hiring stall will last remains to be seen (if there even is a stall at all). At some point, if the sheer number of studies continues to increase the way it has been these past few quarters, it is very likely that clinics and CRO’s will begin hiring again, out of pure necessity. However, the days of coordinators and even CRA’s sharing their workloads with other colleagues seem to be behind us at least for the near future under this seemingly new business model. If you look at this issue from the perspective of the greater economy as a whole, employment rates have not improved significantly since the Great Recession, but corporations that have survived have posted record revenues and profits. The clinical research industry is looking no different at the present moment. If you are a coordinator or a CRA, be ready for a very busy 2013!