The Best Life Science Careers for the Future of the Industry
As automation ramps up in the coming years, many jobs will be lost to machines. In fact, 375 million jobs will be lost to automation by 2030, according to a report by McKinsey.
Even so, many jobs in the life sciences are relatively safe from the automation revolution. These sectors are essential for the future of humanity and the planet and will continue to prosper as AI and automation take hold in other sectors.
This is due to the fact that a large part of healthcare is centered around human interaction, which is something that machines cannot replicate.
The Best Life Science Careers for the Future
That said, here are a few life science sectors that are expected to maintain steady growth in the coming years.
Pharmacy
The pharmaceutical industry is responsible for the development, production, and marketing of drugs and therapies. It is a highly regulated sector with strict safety and efficacy standards. As a result, automation is not as prevalent in this industry as it is in others at the moment.
However, even when automation does come to the pharmaceutical sector, certain jobs will still be safe. For instance, jobs that require close interaction with patients or consumers will be difficult to automate. Similarly, jobs that require a high degree of specialized knowledge, such as research scientists, are also relatively safe.
Although the pharmaceutical industry is broad one, The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the number of pharmacist jobs will grow by 2% from 2021 to 2031. This is slightly slower than the average for all occupations but is still a significant number when you consider that there are over 323,500 pharmacists currently employed in the United States.
Data Science
Data science is a relatively new field that combines statistics, computer science and domain expertise to extract knowledge from data. It is an interdisciplinary field that is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. In fact, the BLS predicts that the number of data science jobs will grow by 21% from 2021 to 2031.
This growth is being driven by the increasing amount of data that is being generated every day, as well as the need for better methods of analyzing this data. Data science is a complex field that requires both technical expertise and domain-specific knowledge. As a result, it is difficult to automate and will continue to provide good career prospects in the future.
Nursing
One of the most important aspects of nursing is the close interaction between nurses and patients. Nurses are also invaluable for their roles in clinical trials.
This personal interaction is difficult to replicate with machines, making nursing a relatively safe profession in the age of automation. In addition, nursing is a complex field that requires both technical skills and people skills.
According to the BLS, employment of registered nurses is projected to grow 6 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations. The demand for registered nurses will continue to grow as the population ages and more people require medical care.
Sales
The medical sales industry is expected to grow steadily in the next decade, as more and more companies enter the market and competition increases. Medical sales jobs are expected to grow by 4 percent from 2021 to 2031, the BLS states.
Medical sales jobs are perfect for people who are interested in both the medical field and sales. In this job, you'll be responsible for selling medical products and services to hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities. This field could never be lost to automation as human interaction is key to making a sale and, additionally, relationships are important in this industry.
Despite automation rapidly populating most professional sectors in the next decade, the future for life science careers looks bright. There is an important human factor in many of these professions that will be difficult to replicate with machines.
In addition, the demand for new and innovative products and services in the life science industry is expected to grow in the coming years. As a result, life science careers offer good job prospects and career stability in the future.
To see more job postings in these life science sectors and more, visit BioSpace's job search page.