2024 Q3 Job Market Report: Biopharma Professionals Face Heavy Competition for Fewer Jobs

As biopharma professionals look for their next opportunities in the wake of ongoing layoffs, year-over-year BioSpace data shows there are fewer job postings live on the website and far more competition for them. For the third quarter of 2024, there were 21,548 jobs live on the site, down from 24,503 in the same quarter of 2023, a 12% decrease. During that same time, the job response rate—the percentage of people applying to positions after viewing them—rose 51%, jumping from 9.8% to 14.8%.

AVERAGE JOBS LIVE, Q3 2022-Q3 2024

It’s also worth noting that the job response rate increased from the start to end of the third quarter. It was 14.5% in July and 18.4% in September, a 26.9% increase. The jump is not surprising given the dozens of rounds of layoffs BioSpace reported during the third quarter.

Regarding which states appeared to have the most positions open in July, August and September, based on BioSpace data, California had the most jobs live. The top five states were:

1. California: 3,769
2. Massachusetts: 3,110
3. New Jersey: 2,513
4. Illinois: 2,452
5. New York: 1,717
   

While biopharma professionals hoped to see workforce cuts taper off in the second half of the year, they continued in the third quarter. During that time, biotech and pharma companies were linked to 54 rounds of layoffs—including 26 noted in August—affecting at least 3,700 employees combined, according to BioSpace data.

Those workforce reductions include:

• FibroGen letting go 75% of its U.S.-based workforce, an estimated 356 people
• Grail laying off about 350 employees
• BioMarin cutting 225 people globally

In addition, in late September, Johnson & Johnson and Bayer disclosed workforce cuts affecting a combined 288 employees at their New Jersey headquarters.

As unemployed—and employed—biopharma professionals seek new positions, it’s worth noting that fall is a good time to apply for jobs in biotech, according to Carina Clingman, founder and CEO of Recruitomics Consulting, which specializes in talent acquisition and talent strategy for startup biotechs. Clingman shared her thoughts in a recent Career Coach column that described fall as prime time for job hunting.

In that column, she noted there’s a surge in hiring activity after Labor Day, as hiring managers look to fill positions before the budget cycle ends. Annual budget meetings usually happen around Thanksgiving, Clingman added.

Moving forward, the biopharma industry is working to add jobs. For example, MassBio last week released a five-year strategic plan that aims to create hundreds more biopharma and life sciences positions in Massachusetts by 2030. As part of that effort, the organization shared it will support and grow the early-stage biotech community, which it believes can help accelerate startup growth and create new jobs.

J&J and Eli Lilly also had workforce-related announcements last week.

• J&J plans to build a $2 billion biologics manufacturing plant in Wilson, North Carolina, that, once fully operational, should create 420 new jobs for full-time and highly skilled employees. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2024. J&J did not specify when the plant will be operational.
• Lilly has made a $4.5 billion commitment to build a new facility in Lebanon, Indiana, that will house research and manufacturing functions. The site is expected to open in late 2027 and employ about 400 new engineers, scientists, lab technicians and operations personnel once fully operational.

Meanwhile, some biopharma professionals may be hoping that the Federal Reserve cutting rates by half a percentage point last month will bolster companies, leading them to expand their workforces. However, a sudden gold rush of fundraising, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings is unlikely to happen, according to Jared Holz, an analyst with Mizuho Securities.

“I don’t think that there are meaningful shifts in the way that executives are running these companies,” Holz recently told BioSpace.

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