Job Trends
Health and Human Services employees aren’t the only ones out of work. Thousands of private-sector biopharma professionals lost their jobs in the first quarter.
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BioSpace has named 50 biopharma companies to its 2025 Best Places to Work list, including Moderna and Sutro Biopharma, whose executives share what makes their organizations special.
Candidates looking to enter biotech should focus on cultivating key skills, thoughtfully crafting their resumes and putting their best, most authentic foot forward in interviews. An internship, co-op or fellowship won’t hurt, either.
Nineteen companies are receiving $21.4 million total in tax incentive awards to create 1,155 new life sciences jobs in Massachusetts. Moderna and Vertex received the largest awards and will add over 600 combined jobs.
2024 was a tough year for the biopharma industry, with several companies cutting hundreds or even thousands of employees. Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives throughout 2025.
Now Hiring
Looking for a biopharma job? Check out the BioSpace list of 12 top companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
Looking for a biopharma job in Indiana? Check out the BioSpace list of seven companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
While hiring activity has not yet picked up, it should do so soon, according to BioSpace Recruitment Manager Greg Clouse. Meanwhile, another year-over-year decrease in layoffs means less competition for jobs.
This report examines anticipated job search activity and the hiring outlook for the remainder of 2024. It includes job data on posted jobs and average response rates, anticipated hiring and layoff trends, job search plans, unemployment trends and more.
Labor Market Reports
The 9% average salary increase from 2023 to 2024 was the largest for life sciences professionals since 2021. Several factors could be behind the spike, including companies providing higher pay because bonuses and stock compensation went down.
Year-over-year BioSpace data show there were fewer job postings live on the website in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the decrease was higher than the third quarter’s drop.
Landing a job remains challenging for life sciences professionals, according to a new BioSpace report. While 59% of surveyed organizations are actively recruiting, nearly half of unemployed survey respondents had been out of work for at least six months, and 20% of surveyed employers expect to lay off employees this year.
In this Employment Outlook report, BioSpace explores current workforce sentiment, job activity trends and the prospective job and hiring outlook for 2025, particularly as it compares to the previous year.
Year-over-year BioSpace data shows there are fewer job postings live on the website and far more competition for them.
THE LATEST
The number of employees laid off dropped year over year during the first quarter. BioSpace recaps the five largest layoffs, which included BMS and Novartis cuts.
Known as the home of big-name companies including Johnson & Johnson, New Jersey has become a destination for more and more small and midsize life sciences businesses. Choose New Jersey, Grace Therapeutics and Onyx Equities executives discuss the state’s life sciences scene.
After moving the manufacturing of a CAR T drug that was part of its ImmPACT Bio acquisition to Washington, Lyell Immunopharma is closing its Los Angeles manufacturing facility, eliminating dozens of jobs there.
Roche’s reorganization of Spark Therapeutics is coming more into focus, with nearly 300 employees being let go by the end of this year. Spark also trimmed its staff in 2024.
Although U.S. full-time employees worked an average of 42.9 hours weekly last year, according to Gallup, that wasn’t true for most BioSpace LinkedIn poll respondents. A Karius HR executive discusses a few potential reasons for the longer workweeks.
Organon’s workforce cuts come several months after the company’s loss of exclusivity to its second-largest product, Atozet.
Biopharma employees reporting a positive business outlook for their companies dropped month over month but increased year over year in February, according to the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index. Glassdoor’s findings align with recent BioSpace data.
As part of cost-cutting efforts, Alector is letting go of about 25 people as it focuses on advancing its preclinical and research pipeline. Alector is also continuing clinical-stage work on programs for frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Nearly half of BioSpace poll respondents recently took a biopharma job they were overqualified for, a finding that didn’t surprise a talent acquisition expert, who said it’s become much more likely to happen.
While Houston isn’t yet on the same level as major life sciences hubs, it has plenty to offer and room to grow, according to CNS Pharmaceuticals, RadioMedix and Greater Houston Partnership executives.