Alan Edwards
Articles by Alan Edwards

Business has changed across virtually every industry in this post-recession era. Companies must simply do more with less, and this is especially true in the sciences where, among many other factors, the expiration of valuable drug patents and the dawn of personalized medicine are impacting the way things get done on a daily basis in labs around the world.

Many job seekers still know how hard it is to get hired. There’s no doubt that certain worker populations continue to feel the pressures and competition of finding employment. Nearly every global industry, after all, continues to evaluate their workforce strategies in the face of extreme demands for productivity and efficiency.

This column over the last year has dealt with many lab-related workforce issues, but one constant running through them has been the need for versatilability™—not just when it comes to the people managers hire, but in every aspect of a lab's business.

We all know that scientists who pursue advanced degrees like a Ph.D. are smart. They are driven. And they are no doubt passionate about their work. But can they cut it in the real world? Recent national media reports that debate the value of advanced degrees are shining a light on the need to have marketable skills that will work beyond the “ivory tower.”

I wrote here several months ago that managers have the power to dramatically improve a lab’s bottom line by embracing new ways of doing things. I told the story of how one of the biggest game changers in the industry— the automation of manual processes— came about because suppliers chose to look at the customer/lab relationship in a new way.

Know where the safety equipment is. Don’t eat or drink on the job. Wear the right clothes. And please don’t casually pour chemicals down the drain. Such precautions may sound elementary, but these important and fundamental lab safety practices must be mastered or quality down the line could suffer.