It was, unfortunately, not a year for increased wages. Not that anyone expected it to be, given the state of global commerce in this year and the last.

Nearly half (about 44 percent) of MPO’s 114 surveyed medtech professionals reported they did not receive a raise of any kind last year. Thirty-seven percent of the respondents did not receive one this year either, or didn’t anticipate receiving a salary bump this year.

Though many claim that wages have been stagnating for some time, it is not far-fetched to say the COVID-19 pandemic that bombarded the medical device industry was largely responsible for the lack of salary boosts both this year and last. Companies were forced to cut spending in any way they could to make up for stifled business, and foregoing raises may have been one strategy to do so.

COVID-19 affected the survey respondents in a myriad of ways. One respondent cited the common problem of being “unable to travel to meet with existing customers or meet with new target customers. [There were also] long lead times for materials, labor challenges, so orders we produce are often late.”

“[There was] no travel to customers/prospects,” added another. “Much more virtual meetings/selling. [We] have to work hard to maintain existing business due to labor challenges, and [there are] very long lead times on new validations/projects—[which is a] barrier to new business.”

Yet another respondent stated that “material and labor shortages are dramatically impacting costs and capability to manufacture products, resulting in lower margins.”

Thankfully, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for some as a sense of normalcy begins to return. Elective procedures resumed—though at present, emergent COVID-19 variants are beginning to flood hospitals with new patients, mainly in the unvaccinated population.

“Initially the impact on elective procedures slowed our business, but we have come out of that and are rapidly growing,” said one of the surveyed professionals. “The supply constraints across the industry (semiconductors, resins, etc.) presents challenges; however, our company is in a better position than most to secure material needed and maximize growth opportunities. More time in my job is spent managing these details than in a normal year.”

Many of the respondents cited the ongoing labor shortage crisis as their main issue. The resulting staff shortage put an enormous amount of pressure on their workforce, and the inability to recruit and train new hires as a result of pandemic restrictions only compounded the issue.

“Hiring personnel, specifically the entry-level positions, is a huge struggle,” said one survey respondent. “This has led to long hours for the personnel who are employed and continue to come to work.”

Another pointed out “lack of experienced and qualified workforce in all areas of design, quality, regulatory, and manufacturing” as another problem in that same vein.

Yet another complained of “the constant changing demands by clients and not having enough trained staff to accommodate them” as an issue.

The combination of the pandemic and shrinking available labor pool took a toll on research and development initiatives, according to one respondent, who pointed out that “R&D ground to a halt trying to sustain under-financed production with lack of manpower/access to facilities due to COVID.”

The lack of an available workforce added to the strains imposed by the pandemic made the past year very challenging for some.

“Due to lack of resources, my work-life balance is tilted, taking time away from family,” said one respondent. “This has been an occasional struggle throughout my career, but in the past 18 months it has been constant.”

Among the usual industry concerns of price pressures, quality control issues, and lack of investment, a significant number of respondents called out increased regulatory constraints as a source of concern in the medical technology industry.

“[The] biggest hurdles are the FDA regulatory approval process and the perceived risk by investors regarding the approval process,” claimed one respondent. Another pointed to the “cost of FDA approval” as their most significant concern about the industry at present.

Another respondent chimed in with “increasing regulatory burden, tax changes decimating private investment, and reimbursement uncertainties” as their most distressing concern with the medical device industry.

The pandemic necessitated a number of devices to be authorized through the FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA) pathway for temporary approval throughout the duration of the pandemic. This brought an extra regulatory burden to medtech businesses. It became clear that a generous portion of the staff was not quite well-versed enough in regulatory procedures.

“[There is a] lack of regulatory understanding across other segments of business operations (engineers, customer service, sales)—partially brought to light due to attempts at making COVID-related devices and realizing there are many regulatory hurdles.”

One respondent cited a particularly interesting claim, one that will surely prompt further investigation: “large OEMs [are] sacrificing quality to achieve lower short-term instrument cost targets, resulting in field quality issues and downtime higher costs for customers in the long term.”

Hopefully this doesn’t become a trend; patient safety is already enough of a concern in the industry.