Massive 91% of Poll Respondents Believe Big Pharma Will Continue Job Cuts in 2015

Massive 91% of Poll Respondents Believe Big Pharma Will Continue Job Cuts in 2015
February 25, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor

It looks as though most participants in our biotech community believe the ax will continue to fall at companies both large and small, a new BioSpace Temperature Poll found late Monday. After a month that has seen Quintiles, Sanofi and Actavis slashing almost a 1,000 biotech jobs, BioSpace asked if the "streamlining" would continue across the industry.

When asked if big companies will continue to cut jobs in 2015, a whopping 91 percent of the 439 respondents resoundingly said yes. A smaller number, 58 percent, said they believed smaller companies would also make cuts.

Massive 91% of Poll Respondents Believe Big Pharma Will Continue Job Cuts in 2015
Massive 91% of Poll Respondents Believe Big Pharma Will Continue Job Cuts in 2015

As for timing, 42 percent said they believed job cuts will come in the second quarter of 2015; 32 percent said the third quarter; 14 percent said the first quarter; and only 12 percent said the fourth quarter.

Massive 91% of Poll Respondents Believe Big Pharma Will Continue Job Cuts in 2015

As for the areas that are the most vulnerable, sentiment remained mixed, with 56 percent of respondents saying job losses will fall squarely on research and development workers. The next sector chosen was administration, with 24 percent of those polled saying they expect there to be job losses in the front office, while only 10 percent each believed clinical or executive offices will feel the pinch.

Massive 91% of Poll Respondents Believe Big Pharma Will Continue Job Cuts in 2015

The majority of the respondents in this week’s poll were from the United States, with 84 percent of the 439 participants based in America. The rest hailed from a host of countries including Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, Austria, Iceland, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Australia, Korea, Cyprus, Australia, Greece and the United Kingdom. Four percent of respondents declined to identify their country of domicile.

For states, California led the pack, with 20 percent of the poll’s respondents based in that state. New Jersey followed with 15 percent, then Massachusetts at 9 percent. The rest were distributed throughout the U.S.



BioSpace Temperature Poll
Analyst Mark Schoenebaum, a biotech and pharmaceuticals analyst and medical doctor for ISI Group Evercore, has been running a Best Hair in Biopharma contest for several months now. So far, the candidates are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company's John Elicker, ReceptosChief Executive Officer Faheem Hasnain, Celgene's Vice President of Investor Relations Patrick Flanigan and Acorda Therapeutics' Ron Cohen.

We want to know what our BioSpace community thinks: Who do you believe actually has the Best Hair in BioPharma?

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