3 Key Hiring Trends & Why They Are Driving the Need for Top Talent

Trend #1 - Healthy is hot!

The healthy living consumer market is currently growing at a brisk 5 to 10 percent clip. Here are the main reasons:

• The "Dr. Oz" effect - With a popular TV show, newspaper column, and books, this celebrity physician's efforts to educate the public about healthy living and eating choices is resonating with young and old alike.

• Alarm bells are ringing about obesity statistics, particularly among the U.S. population. It is now ranked as the #2 cause of preventable death; 60 million Americans age 20 years and older are deemed obese.

• As Baby Boomers age, there are more older U.S. residents than ever before and they want to lose weight, stay healthy, and avoid the use of prescription drugs where possible. This potent demographic trend is helping to drive the growth of the consumer health products industry.

• The proliferation of grocery store retailer Whole Foods and resulting addition of natural products sections in traditional grocers, drug and convenience continues to drive new consumers into the specialty health food, dietary supplement and natural products sectors.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than half of U.S. adults use dietary supplements, which include vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Some project that the global dietary supplement/nutraceutical market could reach $250 billion by 2018.

What does all this mean to your hiring efforts? It’s not hard to understand. Because your industry is growing rapidly and needs more people to meet the demands of this expanding market, it’s becoming harder to find the right people as companies compete for top talent.

Trend #2 - Big corporations are moving into the natural products sector.

Growth in the natural products market hasn't escaped the notice of the large corporate players in the food and consumer living industry. Mergers and acquisitions have been strong, and corporations like General Mills, Post Holdings, and Proctor & Gamble are buying up smaller natural living/organic firms and embracing the healthy living segment.

This is causing increased hiring as large companies enter the functional food & beverage, organic, gluten-free, non GMO, or vitamin supplement (VMS) segments. And as you no doubt realize, these corporations can offer attractive salary, benefit packages, and career growth opportunities to top talent; if you’re a smaller organization, your recruitment job is now harder.

Trend #3 - The market is becoming more regulated.

The FDA is taking a more active role in dietary supplements oversight, due in part to product recalls in this sector:

• New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) marketing is a big focus of the FDA. Draft regulations are still under review and attempts are being made to soften the impact on companies in this industry; yet it's increasingly evident that the bottom line will be scrutinized by the federal government.

• Good manufacturing practices (GMP) are also getting a closer look, and FDA inspections are becoming more commonplace. Manufacturers who aren’t compling with cGMPs will be forced to change or close their doors.

Bottom line - you are in a battle for the best hires because of the following:

• A growing industry means greater competition for top management and executive talent.

• Large Consumer Product Goods (CPG) corporations are moving in and know how to attract and pay for key employees (hint – they use executive search firms).

• Increasing governmental scrutiny demands strong regulatory, quality, and operations talent so you stay on top of FDA regulatory and legal issues.

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