OTTAWA, Nov. 2, 2015 /CNW/ - Five top biotech employers recently committed to considering BioReady™ Candidates - job seekers who have been successfully pre-screened by biotech industry-professionals, through BioTalent Canada's BioSkills Recognition program. Therapure Biopharma of Mississauga, Charles River Laboratories of Montreal, Synaptive Medical of Toronto, New β Innovations Canada of Burnaby and Guelph Vision Therapy Center of Guelph, all "Showcase Employers" of BioTalent Canada, recently agreed to accept BioReady candidates for consideration for new hires listed on the PetriDish, BioTalent Canada's national bilingual biotechnology job-board.
The BioSkills Recognition Program allows job-seekers' skills to be verified by industry professionals, who can then designate the candidates as BioReady for one of the skills profiles listed on BioTalent Canada's website and the PetriDish job board. The program is especially effective for skills transfers for health professionals who have delays or who fail in getting licensed to practice in a regulated health profession, and who want to consider alternative career paths in biotechnology.
Labour market intelligence gathered in 2013 and reported in BioTalent Canada's report, Sequencing the Data, revealed 52% of Canadian biotechnology companies were experiencing a shortage of skilled labour, with 40% expecting this deficiency to negatively impact their operations in the future. Despite this, only 52% of Canadian biotech companies alleviate this concern by employing Internationally Educated Professional (IEPs), with the hiring of these individuals decreasing almost 7% since 2008. It is well known that IEPs often bring talent, innovation and a different perspective to native employers. The fact that they are being overlooked by hiring managers within the country is a disadvantage to the sector.
To facilitate connecting Canadian biotech companies with this pool of qualified talent, BioTalent Canada, with the funding of the federal government's Foreign Credential Recognition Program (FCRP) created the BioSkills Recognition program.
Once IEPs have their qualifications and experience successfully validated by the program's industry professionals, they are granted the BioReady status and their profiles are highlighted in BioTalent Canada's BioSkills Match database of job seekers. Employers recruiting BioReady candidates recognize that these professionals have been vetted to have the necessary qualifications to work in the field.
"Our Showcase Employers: New β Innovation Canada, Charles River Laboratories, Synaptive Medical, Therapure Biopharma and Guelph Vision Therapy Center all recognize the benefits of employing the skills of individuals educated abroad and see the value of using BioTalent Canada's BioSkills Match site to locate BioReady-certified candidates," said Rob Henderson, President and CEO of BioTalent Canada. "As top employers, they will benefit from quick and enhanced access to pre-screened and job-ready candidates," he said.
"Candidate screening is part of our recruiting process, said Naji Ghanem, Human Resources Manager at Charles River Laboratories in Quebec. "Having access to individuals whose credentials have already been vetted by an expert in the field, helps save time and money."
While the objective for the BioSkills Recognition program and the BioSkills Match database is to help mitigate the bio-economy's imminent labour shortage, Canadian employers will also gain by having access to a tool which enables them to decrease the time required to find suitable candidates for their recruitment and selection processes.
This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada's Foreign Credential Recognition Program (FCRP).
About BioTalent Canada
BioTalent Canada is the HR partner of Canada's bio-economy. As an HR expert and national non-profit organization, BioTalent Canada focuses on building partnerships and skills for Canada's bio-economy to ensure the industry has access to job-ready people. Through projects, research and product development BioTalent Canada connects employers with job seekers, delivers human resource information and skills development tools so the industry can focus on strengthening Canada's biotech business. For more information please visit biotalent.ca.
SOURCE BioTalent Canada
Media inquiries: Fiorella Jansen-Nicorescu, Marketing & Communications Manager, BioTalent Canada, 613-235-1402 ext. 229, [email protected]
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