Appliance of science: 'Every member of our workforce makes a real difference'

Thermo Fisher Scientific continues to recruit and deliver steady growth against the backdrop of pandemic

Carol-Anne Sheehy, site operational excellence lead at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Picture: Darragh Kane

In October 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired the Cork facility for the manufacture and supply of pharmaceutical ingredients to clients across the globe. 

Employing over 450 people, its active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in clinical trials and approved medicines in the treatment of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, depression, HIV, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. 

“When Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired the Cork site, it was a very different world. In the space of just several months, the way we work changed significantly,” says Carol-Anne Sheehy, site operational excellence lead. 

“Against the backdrop of the pandemic, we have delivered steady growth, with an increase from serving one customer to more than 10, and hitting all of the recruitment targets.

"This speaks both to the plans that have been put in place globally — coordinated response, comprehensive site preparedness, employee training and communication, and robust business continuity planning — and the dedication of our employees.” 

Over the past year, the workforce at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Cork has increased by 10%, Ms Sheehy says. 

We are quietly proud that so many have been working here for over three decades, or are third generation employees on-site.

The company had a significant recruitment drive in August last year, announcing new high-level science, engineering and operations positions, including development chemists, process chemists, process engineers, analytical development chemists, analytical development manager, and process operators. 

“One positive we are told time and time again about working on a site like Thermo Fisher Scientific is that it opens up opportunities," Ms Sheehy says. 

"For example, a scientist in a large pharma company might expect to work on an average 10 medicines over the course of their career. In Thermo Fisher Scientific, we anticipate our scientists will work on up to 10 medicines per year. 

"Each and every one employed at Thermo Fisher Scientific is making a difference, working together to accelerate medicines development, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics, driving innovation, and increasing productivity."

Ongoing improvement

Thermo Fisher Scientific also places great emphasis on its operational discipline, practical process improvement. 

“This empowers every employee to solve problems, large and small, for the organisation, creating a culture of continuous improvement and ensuring we exceed at customer allegiance, quality and productivity improvements," explains Ms Sheehy.

Continuous improvement tools such as Lean and Six Sigma are paired with effective change management to give the best chance of success to change initiatives.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cork.

The continuous improvement approach evolves with the business," says Ms Sheehy. "However, the core principles that I stand by remain steadfast — bring the right people together and provide strong facilitation and structured problem solving.

"This enables our teams to build great plans, lead change, remove frustration and deliver benefit to the business.” 

Links with academia are key to Thermo Fisher Scientific’s success and ongoing professional development.

“There really is nothing better for young people interested in a career in STEM to get hands-on experience — that opportunity to solve real-time problems, network with peers from different backgrounds, interact with senior leadership, and give back to the community.” 

Over the past year, the company has funded two PhDs, placed 35 students from universities across Ireland and run an apprenticeship scheme. 

STEM and mentoring

A scholarship programme, open to children of employees, is also available to those wishing to study STEM in selected universities abroad. 

"We just celebrated International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, which was all about celebrating the women scientists at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19," says Ms Sheehy. 

"As we now look ahead to International Women's Day on 8 March, we all need to be aware of celebrating women’s achievements and increasing visibility, especially in STEM.” 

"Covid-19 has shown that women in STEM are at the forefront of the world’s response to the pandemic.

"Coaching and mentoring is so important to help inspire young talent, in particular young girls, to reach their full potential

“At Thermo Fisher Scientific, we understand our ability to make a significant positive impact on society."

We want to invest in bright young STEM talent — the next generation of scientists, engineers, thinkers and leaders — who will solve future challenges.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is part of STEM South West, an industry led cluster that promotes and nurtures STEM throughout the South West of Ireland, and with Science Week and Engineering Week through partnerships with local schools.

Aligning with its mentorship support pledge, the company has 29 transition year students from over 20 secondary schools across Cork taking part in its first ever virtual work experience programme. 

Second class pupils of Shanbally National School Charlie O’Toole and Hannah Foley enjoy science kits donated by Thermo Fisher Scientific to celebrate Science Week last November.

Due to run across two days this month, it will give the students an insight into the careers open to them in life science and enable a comprehensive view of the various departments and functions on site and the range of roles and careers on offer. 

“We are committed to the local community in Cork’s Lower Harbour and are particularly keen to support organisations who support our mission — to enable customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer,” she explains. 

"Over the past five years our team has given over hundreds of volunteer days to support local community projects. 

"Last year, we were delighted to award almost 50 Cork charities and community groups €50,000 from our Thermo Fisher Scientific Community Partnership Grant. It was divided between local community groups in Cork’s Lower Harbour along with charitable causes close to the hearts of employees.” 

Thermo Fisher Scientific has zero waste to landfill at the Cork site. Since 2009, the site has reduced its energy CO2 by 41% and water usage by 50%. 

“Our wind turbine is in operation since May 2014 and supplies 24% of the site’s total electricity. This has resulted in a reduction in CO2 equivalent to the annual electricity related CO2 for 7,000 homes.” 

Munster is an extremely attractive location for the life sciences sector due to its infrastructure, capacity, and strong talent pool, she says.

“Narrowing it down, Cork itself has many benefits — it will be the fastest growing city in Ireland in the coming two decades, and, as it is a university city, there is an influx of highly educated graduates to the jobs market each year. 

"The infrastructure is also in place, with Cork well-connected by road, rail, air and sea.”