An increase in pharmaceutical jobs in Europe helped the total number of life sciences roles increase by 3.7% in the first three months of 2012, according to a report.

ZRG Partners’ Life Science Hiring Index found pharmaceutical jobs increased by 25% in the first quarter in the EMEA region, despite a reduction in sales and marketing and R&D positions.

Job growth in the global medical device industry also increased by 6.8% as roles in the Asia Pacific region jumped by 102% – mainly due to recruitment by Philips and Siemens.

But the report found that outsourcing and CRO positions fell by 5.7% after roles in North America were substantially cut and jobs remained flat in Asia Pacific.

Hiring activity in the Americas decreased by a tenth, however it still recorded its highest level in the past two years, research found.

The EMEA region reversed a trend in the past six months as overall positions increased by 18% with a rise in pharmaceutical and outsourcing roles; medical device positions remained flat.

Regulatory, clinical and quality positions made up more than a third (36%) of jobs in EMEA, followed by IT, finance and general administrative positions (31%). Research and development roles made up nearly a fifth (18%) of overall positions with sales and marketing jobs making up 11% and manufacturing accounting for just 4% of all roles.

Emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region again helped boost the global outlook as the amount of jobs also increased by 18%, despite outsourcing/CRO remaining flat and pharmaceutical jobs falling.

Despite the US already cutting 4,800 jobs this year, according to outplacement consulting firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, the Index found that the Americas still account for 51% of global life science roles, followed by EMEA (28%) and Asia Pacific (21%).

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