The TIC market is the testing, inspection and certification across a wide range of industries including; the built environment, consumer products and retail, food and agriculture, healthcare and medical devices, transport and automotive, energy and commodities. Each sector often has its own (or multiple) standards and legislations that need to be adhered to.

The TIC market has grown rapidly over recent years and this momentum is predicted to continue with some reports uncovering that the market size is projected to reach USD 143,344.3 million by 2027 from an estimated USD 99,337.9 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period.

Here at Strativ, our specialist TIC team have witnessed that growth and are expanding alongside the sector’s success. Last year, we placed 136 candidates across 15 countries, which included the top 10 TIC companies (according to Google). Our TIC team now boasts 18 dedicated consultants; a team size – dedicated to this niche – is something we haven’t seen in any other recruitment consultancy.
The market growth is down to multiple reasons; tighter government regulations, growing use of technology/IOT (and introduction of new ML/AI), fraudulent healthcare products and a general demand from customers wanting to know the products they are using/buying are safe.

The market isn’t only growing at pace, it’s adapting and improving at equal measures. It has been over two years since COVID hit, and as different industries experienced demands and/or dips throughout (and post) the pandemic, the TIC sector showed agility, innovation, and precision to ensure services were not compromised whilst also meeting (in some cases) increasing and unprecedented demands amongst varying circumstances.

The response has included a steep increase in remote and digital testing to ensure TIC players can still provide their services during lockdowns – this way of working is something that is here to stay. The ability to work remotely has made the industry much more agile as well as being able to offer better flexibility to the professionals within it. It has also opened the doors to a much wider pool of talent with geographical boundaries being reduced. The TIC council reported that in relation to COVID and as we’ve responded as a society: ‘The TIC sector will become more important than ever in its role to verify the safety of products, enabling trade and protecting brands while helping society to navigate the new “normality” in the aftermath of the pandemic’.

As the pandemic and other factors (trade wars, natural disasters, recessions) impact the world we live in, there will be disruptions to the TIC sector as the industries relying on it go through peaks and troughs. However, three stand out trends we are seeing that are here to stay include:

1. The growing adoption of technologies, be it in consumer use or changing supply chains – resulting in more testing needed at multiple stage of the production cycle.

3. As more products internationalise, the need for meeting international TIC standards (at speed!!) will continue to rise in demand.