November 11, 2015
By Angela Rose, BioSpace.com News
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device organizations in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are preparing for the Fall Pharm Country Talent Connect event as early-stage biotechs as well as big pharma employers continue to drive demand for professionals in the Pharm Country hotbed. With three of the top ten best cities for life science jobs located within it, the region is attracting millions of dollars in investments destined to spur innovation and collaboration as well as entice top life science talent.
According to a recent outlook report from JLL, New York alone boasts more than 1,000 life science establishments ranging from research foundations and academic institutions to medical equipment and supplies manufacturers. These organizations employ more than 14,000 life science professionals. In nearby Philadelphia, another 1,578 companies—including world-renowned universities and international corporations—employ another 54,627 in the industry.
Long Island, which has seen a 50 percent increase in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employment since 2004, is home to another 535 life science employers and 29,405 associated professionals. The area has become a hub for small- and mid-sized, growing biotech firms.
Vicki Gaddy, vice president of talent services at BioNJ , the trade association for life sciences in New Jersey, recently described the robust Pharm Country job market to BioSpace . “We’ve seen hiring activity occurring at a fast pace across all major functional areas,” she said. “Specific to New Jersey, we see a very healthy market with strong talent acquisition happening at early-stage biotechs as well as big pharma employers. It’s a great time for both employers and candidates right now.”
Many of the region’s employers work with BioNJ when they need to recruit additional staff. “BioNJ’s Talent Team works to assist or supplement employers by actively sourcing candidates,” Gaddy explained. “We are immersed in the industry in multiple ways and know the talent in our local market first-hand. This enables us to play an important role as companies are searching for those golden gems within our industry ecosystem.”
To this end, BioNJ will be attending Pharm Country Talent Connect. “Our team is interested in exploring how we can help connect some of the great talent that will undoubtedly attend the Talent Connect program in New York with employers who are hiring in the region. That alone is our highest priority for this event,” Gaddy confided.
Job seekers who want to meet and network with representatives from BioNJ, Aerotek, AstraZeneca LP , Eli Lilly and Company , MedImmune, LLC , NYU Langone Medical Center, Veeva Systems, Inc. and other Pharm Country life sciences employers can do so at The Westin New York at Times Square on November 17 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Each organization will be conducting on-site in-depth private interviews with candidates as they recruit for multiple job openings.
Pre-registration for the event is required, as is the submission of a resume for pre-screening and approval for the one-on-one 15-minute interviews. However, job seeker effort will be more than rewarded by the opportunities Talent Connect employers are offering.
According to Gaddy, “We continue to see a fair number of requests from employers to assist with identifying regulatory affairs and clinical talent, so we are always actively searching for experts in both fields. Employers are also constantly seeking the best of the best in business roles, R&D talent, quality, business development and many other key functional areas.”
It’s very likely that life science employment in the Pharm Country region will continue to grow thanks to the area’s strengths. Earlier this year, Stephen Tang—a professor, president and chief executive officer at University City Science Center, a local hub that offers lab space, office space and support services for entrepreneurs, start-ups and established companies—told BioSpace, “The Greater Philadelphia region is a fertile ground for ideas, technologies and talent.”
He continued, “We’ve historically had two great economic strengths in terms of technology commercialization: The first is academia, where we are consistently ranked among the top research hubs in the nation. The second is a large, mature and established industry, including a high concentration of large pharmaceutical companies and an extensive network of contract research organizations.”
