Job Trends
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.
FEATURED STORIES
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
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.
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 Pennsylvania? Check out the BioSpace list of six companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
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
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.
For the second quarter of 2024, there were 25% fewer jobs posted live on BioSpace compared to the same quarter of 2023. The year-over-year job response rate rose from 14.6% to 15.3%.
The job response rate has risen year over year, according to BioSpace data, indicating competition for roles posted on our website has increased.
THE LATEST
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.
While there are benefits of having employees on-site, the limited workplace flexibility at some companies following the COVID-19 pandemic can affect not only employees but also organizations’ retention and attraction efforts.
While the job market is tough for life sciences professionals right now, it won’t always be. Employers must continue striving to create fulfilling work environments, as the market won’t always be in their favor, say biopharma execs.
Less than two months after two FDA-related setbacks, Atara Biotherapeutics is again cutting its workforce in half. This time, it’s also hitting pause on two CAR T programs, including one affected by an FDA clinical hold in January.
Eisai’s cuts will affect 121 employees across the Japanese company’s U.S. operations, including 57 people at its American headquarters in Nutley, New Jersey. A company spokesperson said the pharma remains fully committed to the U.S. market.
Over 80% of those living outside of biopharma’s biggest hubs, like San Diego or Boston, have a tough time finding work, according to a BioSpace LinkedIn poll. Biopharma professionals in Oregon and Connecticut and a BioSpace recruitment manager share their insights on this issue.
The latest Repare Therapeutics layoffs will include its chief medical officer and could leave the biotech with fewer than 35 employees as it works to advance two Phase I clinical programs.
The Philadelphia market has gained recognition not only for its cell and gene therapy sector but also its real estate scene and talent pool. Vittoria Biotherapeutics, Interius BioTherapeutics and Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia executives share why the area is a life sciences hot spot.
Encoded’s layoffs will mostly affect its technology and early-stage research and development functions. The move is expected to keep the biotech operational well into 2026.