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.
In a job market hampered by layoffs and slow hiring, some biotech and pharma professionals have made a difficult choice: taking biopharma jobs they’re overqualified for. A BioSpace LinkedIn poll this month found that 44% of respondents had recently opted for this form of underemployment.
That finding did not surprise Bryan Blair, vice president of life sciences at GQR, a talent solutions firm. Blair told BioSpace he’s worked with candidates who’ve accepted positions they’re overqualified for, and it’s happened much more often lately. He said in today’s job market, biopharma professionals are extremely likely to turn to such roles—maybe 10 times more likely than they would have been in 2021.
For example, Blair noted, someone might:
- Take a position with a lower title and salary.
- Accept a job that doesn’t align with what they normally do but that they have experience with from early in their career.
- Move from the sponsor side of the industry to a contract research organization.
BioSpace Recruitment Manager Greg Clouse recently shared an example of a senior manager of a manufacturing function who became a supply chain manager. That manager didn’t want to be in supply chain but took the position because he needed a job, according to Clouse.
Money and Desperation: Top Reasons for Underemployment
People almost always take positions they’re overqualified for because of financial reasons, according to Blair. He noted that he’s had candidates accept jobs they know aren’t great career decisions because they needed the money. If people are going to lose their house, for example, they have very few options, he said.
“You hate to see it, but at the same time, that’s the decision they’ve arrived at, that it makes more sense to do that than play a little bit longer term of a game,” Blair said. “I can’t blame them.”
Some job candidates are desperate, he noted, giving an example of those who’ve been on the market for over six months.
“They will literally interview for anything and everything,” he said. “They will ask if you have positions that are outside of pharmaceuticals and biotech.”
They will literally interview for anything and everything. They will ask if you have positions that are outside of pharmaceuticals and biotech.
Some may have been making $200,000 in a management role but are considering positions where they’d earn $100,000 with no management responsibilities, Blair said.
The BioSpace 2025 U.S. Life Sciences Employment Outlook report highlighted the challenging job market. It found that 45% of unemployed respondents to a survey late last year had been between roles for at least six months and 20% for over a year.
Aside from a challenging market and financial needs, other reasons biopharma professionals may take jobs they’re overqualified for include:
- Wanting better work-life balance, which could require accepting a less demanding position
- Getting hired at a specific company, which may necessitate taking a lower position to start
- Having limited job opportunities where they live, such as outside of a major biopharma hub
In addition, Blair said that sometimes, people will bend over backward to get remote jobs, taking a huge cut in title and pay. In other cases, he noted, they’re trying to avoid employment gaps.
“It’s just that they need something,” Blair said. “And I can understand that mindset, because as soon as you have a one-month gap on your resume, that has to be explained for probably at least the next 10 years every time you do an interview.”
The Sweet Spot: Why Companies Hire Overqualified Candidates
Employers who hire overqualified candidates seem to want people who are just barely overqualified, according to Blair.
“What they do not want is somebody who has 25 years of experience for a job that requires five,” he said.
Instead, Blair explained, they’re looking more for the sweet spot where someone accepts a job at the same title they previously had or one level lower for the same or slightly less pay. This could mean, for example, that an executive director becomes a senior director. Blair noted that job candidates dropping down one level is ideal for many employers because it saves them money.
“You’re getting gold for the price of silver,” he said.
Stumbling Blocks: Drawbacks of Underemployment
While taking jobs they’re overqualified for can help biopharma professionals stop the financial bleeding and avoid resume gaps, there are drawbacks. Blair shared that lower job satisfaction occurs in almost every circumstance, leaving people feeling unfulfilled in their positions, and some might lack self-confidence about their new roles.
“It can be embarrassing to people professionally within their network,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of those people, they don’t post the job updates publicly on LinkedIn, or they won’t change their job title at all. They kind of just stop using LinkedIn.”
Taking a job they’re overqualified for can also make it difficult for biopharma professionals to get positions they want later, according to Blair.
“You can kind of throw off your career trajectory if you went to a less desirable company than what your last one was, because caliber of employer plays a huge role in the eyes of hiring managers,” he said.
Considering Underemployment: A Postdoc Researcher’s Perspective
Postdoctoral researcher Douglas Walker might join the ranks of those who’ve taken a job they’re overqualified for. He’s weighing multiple options given his postdoc position at Oregon State University wraps up March 31.
“We’re coming up at the end of it, and I don’t have anything that I was aiming for lined up, and so I’m beginning to consider other things,” Walker told BioSpace.
He shared that he’s been looking for about a year for his first industry role in areas including data analysis, data science and computational biology. Walker said he started submitting applications in late 2024 but hasn’t had any hits yet. He’s now considering jobs he’s overqualified for, such as teaching at a high school.
Walker noted that accepting such a role would provide him not only with a salary but also the opportunity to upskill in a way that’s valuable to industry hiring managers. For example, he said, teaching could give him experience similar to managing people.
Walker doesn’t have to decide about taking a role like that just yet. He noted that his boss told him that after his postdoc ends, she could hire him as a part-time consultant for a little while. Still, Walker shared, it can be tough to think about taking a job he’s overqualified for, in part because he might not make as much money as he expected to earn.
He said he also wonders if it would mean that his past 10 years of Ph.D. and postdoc experience and education would then be wasted time—would he be underperforming or not meeting his potential?
“Those concerns can get heavy,” Walker said.
He acknowledged that some days, he’s OK with the cons of taking a job he’s overqualified for, and other days, he’s concerned about them.
“It’s a rollercoaster for sure,” Walker said.
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