Founded by Brian Haugh and James McMahon, Chicago Search Group is a premier executive search firm based in Chicago. A member of the Sanford Rose Associates network of independent search firms, Chicago Search Group works with companies in the technology and life sciences industries.
Recruiting in life sciences is not easy. According to a 2019 PwC report looking at trends in the industry, only 54 percent of industry CEOs surveyed said they were growing their headcount that year, down 17 percent from 2018. The top concern they faced was a deficit of skilled talent with the necessary skills to drive growth. Not only are life sciences companies looking for individuals with technical skills, they also value soft skills and candidates who have both are not plentiful. In some geographies, the talent gap is considerable.
Executive search firms with broad industry experience and partnerships with national organizations can leverage this reach to find good candidates much faster and cheaper than in-house hiring managers. Most firms even maintain a pool of potential candidates that they can draw from, empowering life sciences firms with broader choice, reducing negative impacts of vacancies, and overall making recruitment quicker and less strenuous.
