Employed and unemployed biotech and pharma professionals are thinking about job hunting in other fields amidst a challenging labor market.
Most biopharma professionals are considering jobs outside of biotech and pharma, according to the new BioSpace Job Market Trends report. Based on a survey that closed this month, the report found that 59% of employed respondents and 76% of unemployed respondents are considering positions in other fields.
Some age groups are more likely than others to consider jobs outside of biopharma.
- Employed survey respondents ages 18 and up are almost equally likely to think about making a change, with that likelihood ranging from 56% to 60% across age groups. Those ages 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 are most likely (60% each), while those 45 to 54 (56%) are least likely.
- Unemployed survey respondents have a wider range of likelihood for considering jobs outside of biotech and pharma. Those ages 25 to 34 (64%) are least likely, while those 18 to 24 (88%) are most likely.
Whatever their age, biopharma professionals are weighing their options in a competitive labor market. Layoffs continue, and year-over-year numbers for jobs live on the BioSpace website show there are fewer open roles and more people applying for them. In the second quarter of 2024, there were 25% fewer jobs posted live than in the same quarter of 2023. During that timeframe, the job response rate—the percentage of people applying to positions after viewing them—rose from 14.6% to 15.3%.
In Their Words: Biopharma Professionals Weigh In
Multiple BioSpace survey respondents shared why they’re considering roles outside of biotech and pharma. Reasons include frustration with their job search, career progression and industry as well as concern about the economic climate. For example:
- “I have a Ph.D. in chemistry from the best institution for chemistry in the world, have taken products from preclinical all the way through commercial launch in multiple countries and I’m being insulted with salaries less than my first job as a bench chemist 28 years ago in today’s dollars,” commented an employed director who’s been job hunting for over a year. “If I’m going to be so grossly underpaid (salary = value delivered, after all) then I will move to another industry where I know nothing and at least in that case the garbage pay will be consistent with the value I’ll be adding as a novice.”
- “Seems like it’s very difficult to get a new job due to competition and other factors,” shared an employed mid-level professional who’s been looking for another position for over a year. “I may consider leaving science all together at some point and try something new. It’s been extremely frustrating to be stagnant in my career and not move up.”
- “I have studied and worked in the biotechnology sector for decades and only recently considered employment outside my field,” commented a contract manager who’s been job hunting for several months. “I had always anticipated that I would devote myself to a lifelong career in science but the work environment has changed to the point where I (and others) wonder if it’s still a worthwhile investment of time and energy.”
- “Not sold on remaining in pharma/biotech – it’s getting harder to see past the greed of c-suites in the industry (record profits, but layoffs and minimal, if any, raises),” shared an employed manager who’s been looking for a job for a few months.
- “I have major concerns, with the massive layoffs there are more people than openings. I feel as though pharmaceuticals/biotech is no longer a good career in the US,” noted an executive who’s been unemployed for over a year and is not confident they’ll find a new biopharma job by the end of 2024.
Not all survey respondents who are considering jobs outside of biopharma are job hunting. A director-level professional who’s been unemployed for several months commented, “I have worked in clinical for over 35 years and have witnessed many changes during this time. The past few years have been greatly dissatisfying for me, so I have been on sabbatical to try to determine whether I want to remain in this field.”
Recruiters: Some Candidates Stay in Industry, Pivot
While many biopharma professionals are considering finding jobs outside of their industry, according to the BioSpace report, recruiters aren’t necessarily hearing that sentiment from candidates.
Lori Rouleau, founder of biotech recruiting firm Truss Group Life Sciences, told BioSpace her candidates are not talking about leaving biotech. Instead, some are pivoting to consulting or fractional work. For example, Rouleau noted that one woman started a medical writing company and contracts out to small biotechs, helping them with documentation and paperwork for investigational new drug and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval processing.
Rouleau said other candidates are making themselves more employable by reskilling, upskilling and focusing on where the industry is heading.
“You cannot stop learning. That’s the takeaway,” she said. “That’s the lesson that we all have to understand is markets ebb and flow. And a lot of times when they come back, they come back in a different format. So, let’s learn about how it’s going to look a little bit different in how we reskill and retool so that we’re right there, we’re at the ready, we’re plug and play when someone wants to hire us.”
Mary Thacker, founder of Biotech Vista Recruiting, told BioSpace that while her current candidates are not talking about leaving biotech, a former candidate exited several months ago. The pharmacologist had spent about a year job hunting, starting in 2023. Thacker said that while the candidate loved pharmacology, she left the industry for social work in part because she isn’t the type to sit and wait for things to happen and because she loves interacting with people.
“Everyone else really has been very strongly ‘This is what I do, this is my passion, and I’m going to stick through this,’” Thacker said.
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