Year-over-year BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the first quarter of 2025.
Biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the first quarter of 2025, according to BioSpace data. Job postings live on the BioSpace website during the first three months dropped 20% year over year, while applications spiked 91% and layoffs continued, although at a slower pace. The number of positions live in Q1 was lower than in any quarter of 2024.
The decline is noteworthy given jobs live on BioSpace also decreased year over year in every quarter of 2024. The data overall suggest that it’s still very much an employer’s market, one where companies continue to hire selectively.
The year-over-year declines in positions live on BioSpace align with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released April 1 showing that U.S. job openings in February declined 877,000 over the year.
Still, there was some positive news for the biopharma job market in the first quarter, as Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly announced they’ll invest billions of dollars into existing and new U.S. manufacturing facilities. J&J noted that an upcoming Wilson, North Carolina, site will eventually employ 500 people, while Lilly expects four new manufacturing facilities to create over 3,000 jobs total.
Layoffs Dip Quarter Over Quarter But Rise in March
When it comes to biopharma layoffs, the good news was that companies let go of fewer employees during the first quarter of 2025 than in the same period of 2024, according to BioSpace data. During the first three months of this year, pharmas and biotechs cut about 4,015 people, an 18% year-over-year drop. Those numbers exclude contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms.
The not-so-good news was that the roughly 1,650 people laid off in March represented a 12% year-over-year increase. Last month also saw the most layoffs for any month of the first quarter.
The increased workforce reductions in March align with what took place in the overall job market. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on April 3 reported that U.S.-based employers announced 275,240 job cuts last month, a 60% increase from February and up 205% from March 2024.
“Job cut announcements were dominated last month by Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] plans to eliminate positions in the federal government,” said Andrew Challenger, the firm’s senior vice president and workplace expert, in the company’s announcement. “It would have otherwise been a fairly quiet month for layoffs.”
President Donald Trump’s administration began laying off U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees during the first quarter. The cuts included about 1,000 FDA scientists in February, roughly 300 of whom were asked to return to the agency. In late March, HHS announced 10,000 jobs were on the chopping block. Those layoffs began April 1.
In biopharma, the largest Q1 layoff came at Novartis in mid-March, when the company disclosed it was letting go of 427 employees at its U.S. headquarters in East Hanover, New Jersey. That wasn’t the pharma’s only cuts that month. It also disclosed it was eliminating 34 jobs at its Campus Point manufacturing facility in San Diego.
Novartis wasn’t the only company to have multiple layoffs during the third quarter. Others were:
- Atara Biotherapeutics: In January, the biotech divulged it would cut about 50% of its workforce. In March, it disclosed it would lay off another 50% of its staff.
- Bristol Myers Squibb: In February, the pharma divulged two cuts in Lawrenceville, New Jersey: one for 67 employees and another for 223. Less than a month later, in March, it disclosed it would lay off 57 workers in Redwood City, California.
- Cargo Therapeutics: In January, the biotech divulged it would cut 81 people. In March, it disclosed it would lay off 90% of its remaining staff as it evaluated strategic options.
Some employees lost their jobs because their companies were closing. Seven biopharmas announced they had shuttered or were winding down operations: HC Bioscience, Inspirna, Kojin Therapeutics, Lyndra Therapeutics, Spotlight Therapeutics, Velia and Viracta Therapeutics.
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This article’s content originally appeared in a Jan. 16, 2024, special edition of Career Insider. Subscribe for the latest job market reports, job trends and career advice.
