There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has had many negative impacts on the economy and recruitment. But some good news has arisen over the last few months that might mean at least one sector is booming in 2021 – healthcare and life sciences.
Here are some changes in the pipeline that should provide opportunities for employment in the sector, including in areas such as manufacturing and technology.
Changes to Australia’s foreign ownership laws have made it harder for foreign companies to acquire Australian businesses that are important to national security, including companies that hold defence and intelligence personnel data.
Generally, any proposed foreign investment into Australia must now be reviewed by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). And FIRB’s timeframe for reviewing new and existing applications has increased from 30 days to 6 months.
All these changes provide tremendous opportunities for domestic business acquirers to jump into the healthcare sector.
It’s a great time to invest in healthcare and life sciences, as shown by the other upcoming changes discussed below.
Recently, investors have been able to access a large amount of funding at low rates.
The stability of returns in healthcare have seen a lot of non-traditional investors like super funds and infrastructure investors putting their money into healthcare areas.
This could create a lot of growth in the sector.
An increased focus on ethical and social issues have seen increased investment in areas that score higher on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). This puts healthcare and life sciences in a good position.
As one example, local investment company, Australian Ethical, notes three main healthcare companies that they believe create a more sustainable economy and, therefore, make for solid ethical investments.
As the importance of ethical and social consciousness in investing gains more traction, healthcare will be of more and more interest.
As more healthcare services move online – for example, telehealth services during the pandemic – technology is likely to be an area where we’ll see more investment and, therefore, more recruitment potential.
In Deloitte’s article on the global outlook for healthcare post-pandemic, it notes the role that three main technologies are playing in the digital transformation of the health industry: cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual care delivery.
Therefore, the increase in technology investment for the healthcare sector can only increase over the next few years.
The last year has shown us the importance of moving away from our dependence on global supply chains and increasing manufacturing in our own country again.
The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative includes medical products as a priority.
Bringing more manufacturing back to Australia will provide a wealth of employment opportunities locally.
Typically a vaccine can take up to six years to produce, but the COVID vaccine has taken only a matter of months. This has been possible partly because of a massive increase in collaboration, even among rival companies.
This has shown the potential for further collaboration in the sector and, therefore, more opportunities for employment.
Biotechnology companies that are focused on solving our biggest health problems – including diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s – will attract more investment dollars in coming years, providing opportunities for people with expertise to offer in this space.
As you can see, many changes are coming in various areas that, together, are going to create great opportunities for healthcare and life sciences over the next few years. Which is good news if you’re looking for work in those areas!