Singapore, Mar 18, 2010: “Singapore is the number one destination of choice for biomedical sciences professionals in the region. This is largely due to its strong biomedical sciences industry, good standards of living, associated safety/security and favorable tax regime,” according to a survey conducted by RSA Singapore, a leading recruitment consultancy for the life sciences.

The Survey results show that the second destination of choice is China, with many biomedical sciences executives indicating interest in pursuing a career at this location. The third top destination is Australia.

The survey findings also reveal that the biomedical sciences industry sees talent management as a top priority for the coming year. In addition, amongst the region, Singapore is viewed as the top destination for providing the best biomedical science career opportunities.

“The findings of our survey support what RSA has noticed over the past several years, which is that Asia’s biomedical sciences industry continues to grow, despite the fact that biomedical organizations in Europe and the US have experienced consolidation or downsizing. And within Asia, Singapore is the top destination of choice, due to the opportunities here. To handle this strong market demand, we have recently expanded our Singapore office and are well positioned to support the growing life sciences industry in Asia,” said Ms Laura Thomas, Managing Director, RSA Singapore.

The other highlights of the survey include: Respondents were positive about the outlook for the biomedical sciences industry for 2010, with all expecting salary increments. Half of those surveyed expected significant salary increments of 30-50%. This compares well to 2008-2009, where biomedical companies in Asia saw salary and headcount freezes; the most important factors for determining whether an employee would join another company were 1) Career Opportunities, 2) Salary, and 3) Work-life balance; if required to relocate for a job, the most important factors that make the new host country attractive were: 1) A growing biomedical sciences industry, 2) Good standards of living and environment, 3) Security and safety. As Singapore ranked well on all three factors, this naturally made it the top destination of choice.