Most respondents expressed concerns about the economic environment, as competition for jobs jumped more than 130%.
Pictured: Illustration of an economic cycle/iStock, Nuthawut Somsuk
At the end of a year marked by wave after wave of layoffs in biopharma as the pandemic-era boom ended, respondents to two newly released BioSpace surveys indicate continued apprehension about the economy, and often their company’s future performance specifically. But there were bright spots; for example, a large majority of employees were happy with major aspects of their workplace environments.
BioSpace conducted the surveys to get an idea of the job, hiring and workforce trends in biopharma for 2024. The first survey received more than 1,200 responses from U.S. biopharma professionals. The second received 139 responses from talent acquisition specialists for biopharma companies in the U.S. The results of both are detailed in our 2024 Employment Outlook report.
Most respondents expressed concern about the economic outlook: 90% said they were concerned about the economic climate and 50% were concerned about their company’s performance and stability, with 33% predicting that fundraising will get harder.
“While it was great to see tones of optimism from VCs at the start of this year, particularly coming out of JPM, the data in our surveys reveals more skeptical attitudes,” noted BioSpace Vice President of Marketing Chantal Dresner, who oversaw the survey.
Many respondents said they have never found it so difficult to find a job, describing the market as “very tough” or competitive. Almost 30% of respondents said they were unemployed, the highest rate ever reported in BioSpace’s annual surveys.
In this respect, biopharma appears to be an outlier among U.S. industries: The most recent report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics found that the domestic economy added 216,000 jobs last month; unemployment was just 3.2% overall for people 25 or older, and 2.1% for those in that age group who hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
The slowdown in the biopharma job market aligns with a sharp downturn in venture capital funding and M&A deals in the industry in 2023, as well as a record 41 bankruptcies over the course of the year. Among the factors behind the parched funding environment are rising interest rates driven by the Federal Reserve’s efforts to limit inflation.
Making a Change
Competition for available jobs got tougher last year, with the number of job applications made on BioSpace’s site increasing by 68% in 2023 versus 2022. Paired with a 31% decrease in the number of listings, the average number of applicants per job listing increased by a whopping 137%.
Half of those currently employed in the life sciences said they will be actively seeking a new role in 2024, and 96% said they would be open to new opportunities. Employees in research and development and clinical roles were more likely than those in other roles to respond that they were actively seeking a new position.
Job seekers rated work/life balance, company culture, growth opportunities and company stability as “very important” qualities in their next employer. Money was not often rated as being very important. That said, 45% of job seekers said they had turned down a job offer because it did not pay enough.
The Current Work Environment
Despite the state of the job market in the industry, workers reported being pretty satisfied with their current employment situation: 87% said they were proud to work for their employer, 85% respected the CEO, and 94% liked their coworkers.
Some employees did indicate that they must take on additional duties and work longer hours due to smaller staff and shorter cash runways. More than 80% of respondents said they sometimes or frequently take on tasks that are not in their job description.
Looking Ahead
Although hiring remains slow compared to 2022, 63% of biopharma companies said they are actively recruiting and 37% predicted an increase in the number of open jobs in 2024. Unfortunately, 21% of companies anticipated layoffs.
According to some respondents, hiring has focused more and more on specialized roles. More than 60% of companies said they anticipate hiring for R&D roles, while 37% said they plan to hire for clinical and regulatory roles. This narrow focus has made it difficult to find suitable candidates even though more talent is available. More biopharma companies said they are looking to hire local talent in 2024, rather than hiring employees who must work remotely.
While this is a challenging period for biopharma, many respondents pointed out the cyclical nature of the industry in comments. At the same time, they expressed confidence that the employment outlook will improve, albeit at a slower pace than in the past. Resilience and flexibility are the keys to riding out this storm, some said, because slowed investment and hiring are likely to continue into the year.
Access the BioSpace 2024 Employment Outlook report.
Charlotte LoBuono is a freelance science writer based in New Jersey. Reach her at lobuono2@verizon.net.
