The last few years have created an increased awareness of the importance of our scientific and life science industries globally, and at the time same time we have seen increased investment in some amazing and innovative early stage ventures. In this article, I take a look at the state of investment in the market, the size of the talent pool and how this is impacting the job market in the US across the pharma, biotech and medical device industries.
The US talent pool is growing
In 2021, the talent pool for pharma, biotech and medical device across the US grew by 3% according to LinkedIn data with the talent pool in Boston growing by 5%, which won’t be a surprise given its role as a life science hub. The top three locations for professionals in these industries are New York City metropolitan area, Greater Boston and San Francisco Bay Area, followed by Los Angeles metropolitan area in fourth place and Greater Philadelphia in fifth.
Investment is increasing, the industry is growing and so are the job opportunities
According to a recent CBRE report, venture-capital funding for life science companies in the US has exceeded $30bn in the 12 months to September 2021 – the most on record. Triangle companies benefited from $586m investment and Massachusetts had its highest venture capital fundraising round for the second year in a row at $13.66bn last year.
At the same time, available existing life science lab and research and development space has reached a record low of 4.9%, and the average lease prices in the top 12 US markets for life sciences have risen 7.5% between March and September 2021. Demand for space in these markets outpaces the amount of lab space currently under construction by nearly 2.8 million square feet. This increase in investment is naturally causing an increase in demand for qualified workers, with jobs across the life science and biotechnology industry growing at a rate of 5% overall, which is the fastest pace on record. Research and development roles are growing faster than the average with an increase of 6.7%. This is growing at a faster rate than the talent pool at a 3% growth, making the competition for talent even harder.
14% of people are open to work and 13% moved roles last year
As of Jan 2022, 130,000 pharma professionals are open to opportunities on LinkedIn, alongside 96,000 professionals in the pharmaceutical industry and 89,000 professionals in biotechnology, which equates to 14% of the workforce being open to moving roles.
According to LinkedIn data, over 13% of people changed jobs in the year to date to 17th January 2022. With the ‘great resignation’ set to continue into this year, we could see the figure rise – people are feeling more confident in changing roles and the pandemic has changed what many are looking for in their jobs.
On average people are staying in their roles for 1.8 – 2.2 years
Based on LinkedIn data from September 2021, the average tenure per industry is 1.8 years in biotechnology, 2.2 years in pharma and 2.2 years in medical technology. 35% of the workforce in biotech, 28% in medical tech and 25% in pharma are at the median tenure for their roles currently and could be open to moving this year.
Boston, San Francisco and New York have the most open roles
As of Jan 2022, there were over 127,000 roles live in the market with Boston, San Francisco and New York as the top 3 hiring locations. Hiring in these locations can be difficult with higher than average salaries and more competition for talent. If you are looking for areas to hire outside the main hubs, Joanne Farquharson – President & CEO at Foothold America – talks about the best places to hire in a recent interview which you can read here.
In conclusion, the market has seen increased investment and as a result there are plenty of opportunities particularly across the US life science hubs with the growth of job roles outpacing that of professionals joining the industry. 14% of people are open to moving with up to 35% of the workforce reaching their median tenure this year. We are already seeing a lot of movement and if you are looking for a new opportunity, please get in touch. Alternatively, if you are a company in need of commercial, technical or executive talent to help with your expansion, we can help you compete for the best people on the market – please contact: info@inveniagroup.com
