Scare Manufacturing and R&D Talent

How the Animal Nutrition Industry Can Win the Race for Scarce Manufacturing & R&D Talent

Innovation in animal nutrition increasingly depends on getting the right people into labs and onto production lines — fast. But today’s reality is stark: competition for R&D scientists, feed technologists and plant operations staff is intense, and larger multinationals with brand recognition and deep pockets routinely out-recruit smaller firms. The result is delayed product development, slower scale-up, higher compliance risk and, ultimately, lost revenue.

The scale of the problem

Recent industry and labour analyses make the challenge clear. The Manufacturing Institute warns of a looming shortfall of manufacturing workers — projecting that nearly 1.9 million roles could be unfilled by 2033 if employers don’t act — a trend driven by retirements, skills mismatches and surging demand for specialised technical staff.

In life sciences (which overlaps with animal nutrition R&D), employment reached record levels in early 2025, but growth is fragile — underscoring how hotly contested specialist scientific talent has become.

More specifically for engineering and production functions, sector reporting shows that shortages are already causing operational headaches: manufacturing product launches face average delays of 3–4 weeks because of insufficient engineering capacity, and many automation projects stall for months for the same reason. Those delays translate directly into slower time-to-market for new formulations, devices or scale-up processes.

Finally, industry bodies focused on animal feed underline the pressure on the sector: rising regulatory complexity, sustainability demands and supply-chain volatility mean animal nutrition firms must hire for niche roles (feed formulation scientists, regulatory dossier experts, QA specialists) — roles that are increasingly scarce. Smaller companies without specialist hiring support struggle to compete.

Why shortages delay product development and commercialisation

R&D and manufacturing are bottlenecked by specialist roles that require both domain knowledge and practical experience. When companies can’t fill these positions:

• R&D projects stall because there aren’t enough experienced scientists to run experiments, validate formulations, or interpret regulatory data.
• Scale-up is slowed when process engineers and plant technologists are unavailable to move a formulation from bench to plant.
• Quality and compliance risk increases when QA and regulatory roles are vacant or understaffed, which can invite audits, recalls or market delays.

These are not hypothetical outcomes — they are operational and commercial realities companies are already experiencing, often exacerbated by competition from larger employers and adjacent sectors (food tech, biotech, human health) that can pay premiums for similar skills.

How a specialist recruitment partner changes the game

For smaller and mid-market companies, competing head-to-head on brand and salary with big multinationals is rarely viable. That’s where a specialist recruitment partner delivers disproportionate value:

1. Speed and scale through market mapping
   Specialist agencies already hold networks of niche candidates — active and passive — and can map talent pools regionally and globally. Instead of waiting months, a targeted search can produce curated shortlists in weeks.
2. Quality: candidates with the right hybrid skills
   Agencies experienced in STEM and animal nutrition understand the hybrid profiles you need (e.g., a formulation scientist who also knows feed regulatory dossiers). They pre-screen for technical fit and cultural alignment, reducing wasted interviews and poor hires.
3. Salary benchmarking & competitive positioning
   Specialist agencies provide current market salary bands and compensation strategies — vital when you’re trying to persuade a skilled candidate to join a smaller employer rather than a recognisable multinational.
4. Flexible resourcing (contract and interim talent)
   When permanent hires are slow, a recruitment agency can source contractors and interim specialists to keep projects moving — preventing project slippage that costs far more than interim rates.
5. Confidential hiring and M&A support
   For sensitive roles (post-acquisition remediation, regulatory fixes), agencies can run discreet searches, quickly finding proven remediation experts who hit the ground running.
6. Employer value proposition (EVP) consulting
   Agencies help craft messages that attract mission-driven candidates: highlighting innovation, purpose, and faster career trajectories that smaller firms can actually offer.

Practical next steps for employers

If you’re feeling the impact of talent shortages on product timelines, consider a short, pragmatic plan:

1. Commission a talent market map — ask an agency for a 2–3 week market scan showing available candidates, salary bands and competitor activity.
2. Use contract specialists to remove bottlenecks — plug gaps in process engineering or QA to avoid costly delays.
3. Invest in EVP and employer marketing — lean on agency expertise to position your organisation as the agile, high-impact place for talent wanting faster outcomes.
4. Adopt blended hiring — combine direct hire for core roles with agency-sourced contractors for time-sensitive tasks.

Scarce manufacturing and R&D talent is not just an HR problem — it’s a commercial risk that slows innovation, increases compliance exposure and reduces competitive agility. For smaller animal nutrition and STEM firms, partnering with a specialist recruitment agency is the fastest, most cost-effective way to compete with larger players: agencies bring speed, specialist reach, and the market intelligence to turn talent scarcity into a solved problem.

By Joe Hugill, Associate Director, Animal Nutrition, Skills Alliance Staffing