Future jobs and skills.
Analysis of the most important changes in the skill architecture of the global chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
Job and skill insights
Top jobs and skills of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
The top jobs and skills were derived by analyzing the global demand trends of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry over a period of two years. The list of jobs & skills is sorted by two parameters. The top jobs & skills by frequency show the jobs and skills sorted by the highest demand. The figure in brackets shows the demand change from 2019 to 2018. The top jobs & skills by growth rate show the rising stars of the industry. The jobs and skills are sorted based on the demand growth from 2019 to 2018.
*Source: HRForecast data crawled from public sources (regions: Germany, EU, USA & China). Period analyzed: 01/2018 – 12/2019. Only data from the chemical industry was analyzed.
Top jobs of the future
Top jobs (by frequency)*
- Quality engineer ▲190%
- Scientist ▲ 78%
- Medical science representative ▲ 72%
- Data Scientist ▲59%
- Manufacturing engineer ▲49%
- Brand marketing specialist ▲35%
- Medical science liaison specialist ▲ 35%
- Supply chain planner ▲32%
- Regulatory affairs specialist ▲ 28%
- Process engineer ▲23%
- Maintenance operator ▲5%
Top jobs by frequency.
*Growth 2019 YTD vs. 2018.
Rising stars (by growth rate)*
-
Data analyst
(HR/ people analytics)
▲ 551% -
Client advisor / client interface manager
▲ 535% - Machine learning engineer ▲ 449%
- App developer ▲ 361%
- Marketing campaign specialist ▲ 189%
-
Quality assurance analyst/ engineer
▲ 151% - Strategy analyst ▲ 127%
- DevOps engineer ▲ 117%
- Computational chemist ▲ 115%
- Preventive maintenance specialist ▲ 100%
Top jobs by YoY growth.
*Growth 2019 YTD vs. 2018.
Top skills of the future
Top skills (by frequency)*
- Biotechnology
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Process management/ optimization
- Automation
- General process know how
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Six Sigma
- Laboratory information management systems
- Quality assurance
- Forecast & modeling
Top jobs by frequency.
*Growth 2019 YTD vs. 2018.
Rising stars (by growth rate)*
- Preventive maintenance
- Process control engineering
- Computer vision / Image processing
- Virtual collaboration
- Additive manufacturing
- Computer aided design (CAD)
- Good automated manufacturing practices (GAMP)
- Continuous improvement
- Process simulation
- Machine-learning / artificial intelligence / advanced statistics
Top skills by YoY growth.
*Growth 2019 YTD vs. 2018.
Job & skill evolution by functional area.*
Almost every functional area and job is impacted by skill evolution. In the following section, the most important jobs and skills for each of the ten analyzed functional areas are shown.
Legend
*Source: HRForecast data crawled from public sources (regions: Germany, EU, USA & China). Period analyzed: 01/2018 – 12/2019. Only data from the chemical industry was analyzed.
Remark
Editorial selection from relevant jobs and skills by frequency and growth.
Top 10 jobs & skills by functional area.
Select a functional area to see the top 10 jobs & skills
- Strategy analyst ▲127%
- Compliance corporate counsel ▲118%
- Agile manager ▲70%
- Business analyst ▲52%
- Patent counsel ▲49%
- Govenance manager ▲17%
- Transformation manager ▲13%
- Regularotry affairs specialist ▲11.2%
- Transformation manager ▲127%
- Project manager ▼20%
- Industrial clerk ▼33%
- Virtual Collaboration▲
- Project management▲
- Accounting ▲
- Controlling ▲
- Reporting (MS excel) ▼
- ERP (SAP) ▼
Soft skills:
- Communication▲
- Presentation ▲
- Innovative thinking ▲
- Leadership ▲
- Data analyst (HR / people analytics) ▲551%
- Leadership development specialist ▲45%
- Strategic workforce planner ▲25%
- Talent development specialist ▲22%
- Change management specialist ▲21%
- HR performance manager ▲11%
- Compensation and benefits specialist ▼22%
- HR mobility specialist ▼68%
- Labour law counsel ▼80%
- Change management▲
- Coaching ▲
- Data analysis ▲
- Performance management ▲
- Virtual collaboration ▲
- Mentoring ▼
- Communication ▲
- Innovative thinking ▲
- Negotiation ▲
- Leadership ▲
Information technology
Logistics
- Machine learning engineer ▲449%
- App developer ▲361%
- DevOps engineer ▲117%
- Information security analyst ▲52%
- Cloud engineer ▲35%
- Data scientist / data analyst ▲31%
- Lab automation engineer ▲5%
- IT specialist ▼10%
- IT business analyst ▼15%
- IT architect ▼40%
- SW full-stack developer ▼57%
- Laboratory information management system ▲
- Machine learning ▲
- Data science/ data analysis ▲
- Artificial intelligence ▲
- UX - User experience design ▲
- DevOps ▲
- Forecast & modelling ▲
- Computer aided design (CAD) ▲
- Cloud solution (AWS, Azure) ▲
- Object oriented program language (C++) ▲
- Manufacturing Execution systems (MES) ▲
- Innovative thinking ▲
- Detail oriented ▲
- Warehouse manager ▲20%
- Supply chain planner ▲10%
- Distribution manager ▲10%
- SC risk manager ▲9%
- Transportation manager ▲8%
- Inventory / stock manager ▼38%
- Procurement clerk ▼76%
- Warehouse operator ▼110%
- Material operator ▼120%
- Driver (truck) ▼135%
- Freight transport ▲
- Virtual collaboration ▲
- Warehouse managemen ▲
- Packaging practices ▲
- Six sigma ▲
- ERP (SAP) ▲
- Forecast & modelling ▲
- Reporting (MS excel) ▼
- Innovative thinking ▲
- Leadership ▲
- Detail oriented ▲
Maintenance
Marketing
- Preventive maintenance specialist ▲100%
- Field service engineer ▲82%
- Maintenance technician/ operator ▲43%
- Maintenance engineer ▲43%
- Service specialist ▲33%
- Service manager ▲28%
- Industrial machinery technician ▲13%
- Robotics technician ▲10%
- Remote maintenance exper ▲10%
- Facility management specialist ▼28%
- Utility manager ▼28%
- Automation ▲
- Preventive maintenance▲
- GMP - Good manufacturing practice▲
- PLC - Programming logic controller ▲
- Continuous improvement ▲
- Troubleshooting ▲
- SOP - Standard operating procedures ▲
- Mechanical engineering▲
- Reporting ▼
- ERP (SAP) ▼
- Leadership ▲
- Problem solving ▲
- Marketing campaign specialist ▲189%
- Digital strategist ▲74%
- Marketing automation specialist ▲74%
- Social media specialist ▲28%
- Digital marketing specialist ▲25%
- Innovation specialist ▲24%
- Brand marketing specialist ▲15%
- Product management specialist ▲3%
- Product pricing specialist ▼4%
- Communication specialist ▼11%
- Data management ▲
- Brand communication▲
- PfMP - Portfolio mgmt. professional ▲
- Marketing automation▲
- Visualization tool (Tableau, Power BI) ▲
- Business intelligence ▲
- Data analysis ▲
- Corporate identity ▲
-
Omnichannel
marketing ▲ - Competitor analysis ▼
- Communication skills ▲
- Creativity ▲
- Design thinking ▲
Production
Purchasing
- Quality assurance analyst/ engineer ▲151%
- Quality data analyst ▲90%
- Process engineer ▲56%
- Continuous improvement specialist ▲46%
- Industrial engineer ▲46%
- Test manager ▲35%
- Manufacturing engineer ▲23%
- perations manager ▼4%
- Packaging operator ▼5%
- Production operator ▼9%
- Scheduler ▼52%
- Chemical technician ▼56%
- Production processes ▲
-
QA - Quality
assurance ▲ - Packaging practices ▲
- Batch operations ▲
- Inspection management ▲
- SOP - Standard operating procedure ▲
-
GMP – Good manufacturing
process ▲ - FDA – Quality system regulation ▲
- Design for manufacturability (DFM) ▲
- Six sigma ▲
- Production process control ▲
- General process know how ▲
- Innovative thinking ▲
- Planning analyst ▲99%
- Strategic sourcing manager ▲49%
- Procurement manager ▲42%
- Sourcing specialist ▲38%
- Contract analyst ▲6%
- Buyer ▼1%
- Order management specialist ▼1%
- Category manager ▼5%
- Project procurement specialist ▼10%
- Vendor qualification manager ▼20%
- Pricing analysis ▲
- Sourcing ▲
- Market research / market intelligence ▲
- Supply chain management ▲
-
Contract
management ▲ - KPI - Key performance indicators ▲
- ERP (SAP) ▲
- Reporting (MS excel) ▼
- SRM - Supplier relationship management ▼
- Leadership ▲
- Detail oriented ▲
-
Entrepreneurial
thinking ▲
Sales
Research & Development
- Client advisor / client interface manager ▲535%
- E-commerce manager ▲56%
- Licensing manager ▲43%
- Customer service consultant ▲27%
- Customer relationship manager ▲3%
- Account manager ▼12%
- Areas sales manager ▼23%
- Business development manager ▼51%
- Technical sales representative ▼59%
- Delivery associate ▼63%
- eCommerce ▲
- Data interpretation ▲
- Business acumen ▲
-
Account
management ▲ - Product knowledge ▲
- CRM - Customer relationship management ▼
- Presentation ▲
- Communication ▲
- Negotiation ▲
-
Entrepreneurial
thinking ▲ - Scientific selling ▲
-
Emotional
intelligence ▲
- Computational chemist ▲115%
- Computational biologist ▲97%
- Scientist ▲78%
- Biostatistician ▲72%
- Biotech engineer ▲11%
- Medical science liaison specialist ▲10%
- Medical science representative ▲6%
- Regulatory affairs specialist ▲6%
- Process engineer ▼9%
- Biomechanics engineer ▼35%
- Digital biomarker scientist ▼48%
- Chemical laboratory technician ▼52%
- Drug development ▲
-
Real world data
analysis ▲ - Immunology ▲
- Oncology ▲
-
Bioprocess
engineering ▲ - Nano materials ▲
- Biochemistry ▲
- Clinical trial ▲
- Biopharmaceuticals ▲
- Biotechnology ▲
- Root cause analysis ▲
- Detail oriented
- Innovative thinking
