Digital talent acquisition is only half the battle on medtech’s path to digital maturity
Medtech companies should implement talent programs that meet both their business objectives and their employees’ needs.
Sheryl Jacobson
Chloe Domergue
Natasha Elsner
Darshan Gosalia
Everybody is competing for digital talent, and medtech is no exception. Digital roles in the United States saw a 24% increase in job postings between 2018 and 2021, and the 2021 Jobs on the Rise report estimated that 150 million technology-related jobs will be added globally over the next five years.1 Demand for digital talent is expected to grow across all industries.2 Yet, the supply of digital talent will likely not be sufficient to meet this demand. Predictions are that the technology sector alone will have a global talent shortage of 4.3 million people by 2030.3
Leading medtech organizations understand that while acquiring talent is a key component of their digital innovation strategy, they can’t just hire their way into the digital future. They should think holistically about the needs of the workers and the needs of the business and implement programs that meet both.
In the Deloitte 2023 Life Sciences Digital Innovation Survey, medtech leaders identified multiple gaps they need to fill to be on par with industry leaders. Among all the gaps that we analyzed, talent is the only area where we do not see differences between early adopters, fast followers, and laggards (see sidebar for description of digital adoption segments).
About the survey
In May 2023, the Deloitte Center of Health Solutions conducted a survey of 100 leaders from large medtech organizations across the United States, Europe, and Asia. The aim of the study was to gain insights about how medtech companies utilize digital technologies to foster growth, drive innovation, and establish a competitive edge.
We segmented respondents by their self-reported description of their organizations’ level of digital adoption:
- Early adopters (20% in our survey) are visionaries that quickly adopt innovative technologies and set the pace for the industry.
- Fast followers (54%) tend to follow the path of competitors after they have proven the value of innovative technologies.
- Laggards (26%) are slow to adopt innovative technologies and do so years after competitors.
But here’s the thing: that’s what one gets to see at first glance. A deeper dive into this seemingly common digital talent hiring challenge reveals that surveyed early adopters do more with who they have. They invest in comprehensive workforce programs that span recruitment of new talent, training and upskilling of existing talent, and purposeful staff allocation. Specifically:
- Seventy-five percent of early adopters prioritize hiring of talent with expertise in digital technologies whereas only 31% of laggards do the same.
- Seventy-five percent of early adopters have dedicated personnel who research and work on innovative technologies compared to 35% of laggards.
- Sixty-five percent of early adopters offer trainings around effective use of digital tools as opposed to 27% of laggards.
- Fifty-five percent of early adopters have programs in place to improve workers’ knowledge of innovative technologies in contrast to 19% of laggards.
Talent acquisition is just one aspect to a holistic workforce development strategy
Access to digital talent is a challenge today and is expected to be one of employers’ top concerns in the future. A proactive approach to developing digital talent capacity can distinguish leaders from the rest. It is not a one-and-done effort and is part of a bigger human capital strategy to redesign the work and equip the organization for the digital future. Approaches to consider range from traditional human capital basics like pay and benefits to transformational initiatives like creating fulfilling career paths:
- Talent supply
- Identify and cultivate new upstream talent supply sources, such as schools, local communities, and recruitment agencies
- Consider contingent workforces and non-traditional workers
- Talent enablement
- Create a culture of continuous learning and experimentation4 and cultivate the ability of workers and leaders to adapt quickly to changing roles and business needs
- Equip and enable leaders and workers to work cross-functionally across the function and/or the enterprise
- Talent insights
- Power your strategy with real-time analytics
- Measure the success of your transformation efforts
