Although Massachusetts’ life sciences job growth increased by just 2.5% in 2023, the state continues to grow the industry, according to a new MassBioEd report.
A week after CBRE released a report showing U.S. biopharma employment grew by just 0.2% since June 2022, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation announced slowed life sciences growth in Massachusetts. Yet, it also expressed optimism about the future.
While Massachusetts’ life sciences jobs grew by just 2.5% in 2023 compared to a 7.8% annual average increase from 2020 to 2022, jobs are expected to go up 32% by 2033, according to the MassBioEd employment outlook report released Tuesday. Also of note: The state’s life sciences employment increased by 11.6% from 2021 to 2023, outpacing national growth of 6.3% over the same period.
“Massachusetts continues to grow its life sciences industry, with each of the state’s major segments outpacing its national counterparts,” the report, developed in collaboration with TEConomy Partners, stated. “While employment trends point to slowing growth relative to levels seen both during and immediately following the pandemic, the projected 10-year growth remains strong.”
To nurture this longer-term growth, the MassBioEd report made recommendations for ways in which the organization and stakeholders in industry, academia, government and other sectors can develop, attract and retain top talent going forward.
Talent Supply and Demand Trends
After increasing by nearly 46% from 2021 to 2022, Massachusetts life sciences job postings decreased by 33% from 2022 to 2023, a key signal of softening labor demand, according to the report. It also pointed toward recent layoffs affecting the job market.
Source: Massachusetts Life Sciences Employment Outlook 2024 report
Still, there is demand for employees.
“With more than 140,000 total life sciences jobs, the state continues to serve as a leading global life sciences hub employing a highly skilled, highly specialized scientific and technical workforce,” the report stated.
That said, the report noted that demand for life sciences talent exceeds the supply produced by the state’s educational institutions. For example, those institutions provide just 61% of the projected annual need in new graduates who have the degrees most closely aligned with life scientist, biotechnician and medical lab technician roles.
Another pipeline challenge, according to the report, is that Massachusetts’ life sciences industry is competing with other states and local industries for talent, “reinforcing the need to remain consistent in retaining skilled talent and supporting ongoing life sciences workforce development despite concerns about industry contraction.”
Shifting Occupational and Skill Demands
The report also found continued but slowing growth in some workforce segments and shifting areas of emphasis relative to the past several years in key life sciences roles. For example:
- While scientific roles grew at an average annual rate of nearly 7% from 2020 to 2022, they increased by only 2.7% from 2022 to 2023.
- Although computing and IT roles rose at an average annual rate of 17.5% from 2020 to 2022, they went up just 4.7% from 2022 to 2023.
- Production roles grew at an average annual rate of 16.6% from 2020 to 2022 but rose by only 1.7% from 2022 to 2023.
On the other hand, several engineering occupations saw significant growth from 2021 to 2023, according to the report. For example, mechanical engineering employment increased by 47%, and industrial engineering jobs grew by 43%.
Source: Massachusetts Life Sciences Employment Outlook 2024 report
The report also noted that for life sciences job postings, skills with increasing importance focused on production facilities management, regulatory affairs, quality control/quality assurance and information privacy.
Recommendations for Moving Forward
To help key stakeholders develop a skilled, diverse, future-focused workforce that can meet the Massachusetts life sciences industry’s needs, the report shared recommendations in three areas: building a talent pipeline, growing and retaining the workforce and expanding career opportunities and diversity. Suggestions included:
- For industry and workforce program stakeholders: Develop programs and incentives to better retain experienced, mid-career life sciences workers to ensure their experiential knowledge doesn’t leave the workforce.
- For industry, workforce program and government stakeholders: Accelerate efforts to invest in life sciences skills training programs at public institutions and in underserved communities to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in life sciences.
- For industry, higher education and government stakeholders: Continue investing in K-12 STEM education initiatives designed to engage underrepresented students in hands-on learning, excite students about STEM careers and connect students to local colleges and employers to pursue their career interests.
When it comes to training and developing a skilled life sciences workforce, MassBioEd CEO Sunny Schwartz noted in a press release that the organization benefits from partnering with internationally recognized higher education institutions. However, she added, they need to do more to attract STEM majors to the industry.
“Together, we need to increase the 19% of biology, chemistry and bioscience graduates who choose a life sciences career,” she said.
Angela Gabriel is content manager, life sciences careers, at BioSpace. You can reach her at angela.gabriel@biospace.com and follow her on LinkedIn.
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