Life Sciences Job Market in 2010: Current Trends and Future Outlook in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
What are the current trends and future outlook for the life sciences job market in Pennsylvania and New Jersey? That’s what we asked two industry leaders who have their “fingers on the pulse” of the local life sciences market — Debbie Hart, President of BioNJ, and Christopher Molineaux, President of Pennsylvania Bio. Here they share observations and insight about the markets their organizations serve.
Significant Change Is Happening in the Life Sciences Job Market
There’s no doubt about it — the life sciences marketplace has been going through a significant change in the last few years. To describe this change, Pennsylvania Bio’s Molineaux began by breaking down the life sciences market into two general categories:
- Small and mid-size start-up companies in the early stages of the life cycle.
The growth of this sector is robust in Pennsylvania, says Molineaux. There are currently lots of opportunities in most career areas in these emerging companies — including technical talent, regulatory, R&D, business development and marketing — and the growth is ongoing.
- Mature global pharmaceutical companies.
The “big pharma model” is experiencing the most dramatic change, Molineaux observes, especially in the last 18 to 24 months. As pharmaceutical pipelines have dried up, there’s been a general contraction of this sector of the industry, resulting in layoffs of hundreds of employees in Pennsylvania.
Until recently, Molineaux describes, the “big pharma model” was a fully integrated company — from research and development through the commercialization of the product. The traditional pharmaceutical company had all employees in-house, including sales, clinical research, human resources, regulatory, public relations, and communications. As a new life sciences model evolves, he predicts this will no longer be the case. Instead, there will be more outsourcing to smaller, functional-specific companies.
BioNJ’s Hart describes a similar pattern in New Jersey. While there are layoffs occurring in big pharma, the biotech sector continues to grow and add more jobs. As we reported in last month’s Ashton Tweed Connection feature, preliminary results from a BioNJ survey showed that the number of biotech firms is continuing to increase. Today there are over 300 biotech companies in New Jersey — up from 238 biotech firms in 2008, and only about 80 in 1998. In addition, a majority of the survey respondents (78%) said they were planning to hire more staff next year.
Challenges and Opportunities for Life Sciences Professionals Today
As a result of this shift in the life sciences job market, there’s a significant amount of talent currently unemployed in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. “The question is, how quickly and effectively will those displaced people become part of the huge opportunity that the new life sciences model is seeing?” asks Molineaux.
Meeting the challenge of the new life sciences industry model of today requires more of an entrepreneurial spirit, he asserts. In other words, displaced employees need to be identifying and delivering a value proposition to address the needs of the new model. So as pharmaceutical companies contract, for example, we’re seeing more clinical research organizations popping up to answer these firms’ needs on an outsourced basis. In addition, consultants will likely be needed to help the pharmaceutical firms manage newly outsourced jobs. It’s a matter of finding — or creating — that new organization or job opportunity.
“I’ve heard the cliché: ‘When California has a layoff, they see business plans. When New Jersey has a layoff, we see resumes,’” says Hart. “But that’s changing. Now we’re seeing more business plans.” Increasing numbers of people who have been laid off from the large pharmaceutical firms, she explains, are setting up their own consultancies and R&D companies in New Jersey. “If there’s a silver lining in this current marketplace,” Hart adds. “This is it.” She sees this trend as a good thing for New Jersey — both increasing motivation levels, as well as the creation of more opportunities for people to find new jobs within the state.
Interim Hiring — A Life Sciences Industry Trend
Interim hiring — the placement of highly qualified professionals to fill companies’ needs for fixed duration projects — is another growing trend in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Molineaux predicts interim hiring will continue to be a trend in the future, as well, especially for functions that are transferrable from one company to another, such as finance and regulatory.
“We definitely have seen an increase in interim placements,” says Hart. “It’s a great way for companies to bring in highly talented people. It also provides opportunity for people to build their resumes,” she adds, “as well as to break into a company that may potentially be the source of their next full-time position.”
Life Sciences Career Resources Are Available
If you are among the many life sciences professionals affected by the changes in the industry, resources are available to help you make the transition to a new career opportunity. Email us or give us a call today at 610-725-0290. We can help you find the right placement opportunity — from product discovery through commercialization at leading life sciences companies — including interim executive positions and full-time placements.
Plus, there are a multitude of career resources available through BioNJ and Pennsylvania Bio. Click on the following links for more information:
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