Life Sciences on the Rise: 2021 North American Report

Life sciences employment is highly concentrated with two states, California and Massachusetts, dominating the industry. Together, they account for 46% of all life sciences/ biotechnology jobs. Add in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina and the top five states account for two thirds (66%) of all life sciences jobs.

LIFE SCIENCES EMPLOYMENT BY STATE (2020)

60

50

40

30

20

10 Number of Jobs (Thousands)

0

Source: EMSI

Life Sciences Workforce While the biotechnology activity and investment mix remains heavily clustered in a few North American markets, growing biotechnology operations within those markets are finding themselves hiring from outside those markets. Growing ventures within the Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area markets for instance, are competing among a heavily employed talent pool mostly engaged with other scientific companies, and are generally recruiting from a global talent pool of bioscience engineers and relevant recent graduates. As this is the case, biotechnology groups that expect to more than double their workforces soon are increasingly shifting location strategies within markets, as access to existing workers and labor pools is less important than offering a total lifestyle package to individuals relocating from other places. The current overall appeal of the cluster to these talented individuals is enhanced by a likelihood of joining a new venture, should the initial venture not achieve desired success.

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