UBI organizes life science recruitment day

Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) is arranging a recruitment day with life science companies this May - and already 19 companies have signed up to take part.

“We want students to get in touch with us. Recruitment opportunities are everything for life science companies”, says Jennie Ekbeck, CEO of Umeå Biotech Incubator.

UBI’s recruitment day is being held on May 3rd between 11.30 and 14.30 in the car park outside Umeå Biotech's Incubator's premises at Tvistevägen 48. Among the companies to have already registered to participate are Agrisera, Cytiva and APL.

“At APL we need different types of skills that are, to varying degrees, difficult to find. Umeå has a large number of educational programmes that focus on the pharmaceutical industry. We hope we can make ourselves seen in Umeå and reach out to people with the right skills for us”, says Anna Tegström, Production Manager at APL.

Anna says APL has previously had difficulty recruiting pharmacists, while Paulina Gårner, a HR specialist at Cytiva, believes it is challenging to find engineers with expertise in, among other things, medical technology, electronics and computer technology.

“We also see that expertise in 3D printing, interactive design and AI can be challenging to find. As an employer in life science we know that Umeå University covers a wide range of the skills we are looking for. But it is also important that the education provided keeps up with developments in the industry both now and in the future, and that future engineers stay in the region and qualified engineers from other parts of the country appreciate the career opportunities available in Umeå, says Paulina Gårner.

Erika Gelfgren from Agrisera feels it is hard to recruit experienced industry people, and would rather it be possible without having to headhunt colleagues from other local businesses.

“This recruitment day is an excellent opportunity for us to meet potential future employees and show them what Agrisera has to offer. It is important to create and find forums and meeting places to establish new contacts. Activities such as this one are a good way of doing just this”, she says, and continues:

“It is also important to showcase Umeå's life science recruitment market outside the municipality's boundaries, in order to promote the opportunities and needs that exist in various areas of expertise. We hope to attract people back here, as well as convince others to think of Umeå as their new hometown”.

“It will be exciting to gather several different life science companies together for a recruitment day in Umeå. We specialize in different things and in different disciplines, but we can all benefit from working together when it comes to attracting the right skills”, says Paulina Gårner.

Jennie Ekbeck hopes the recruitment day will be well attended, and that lots of new and rewarding contacts will be made.

“The life science industry in the Umeå region is growing incredibly fast. We are in need of expertise, but also of new laboratory premises. Now we’ll get the chance to demonstrate the depth of our industry. This day is also important for people wanting to work with life science to let others know what they can do - even students who may still have a few years left of their education”, she says.

For more information, please contact:

Jennie Ekbeck, vd på Umeå Biotech Incubator
070-344 57 70
jennie.ekbeck@ubi.se