2026 Q1 Job Market Report: Job postings picked up as quarter progressed

Biopharma professionals hunting for their next role likely saw increased opportunities by the end of the first quarter, according to BioSpace data. Although job postings live on the BioSpace website dropped 15% from January 2025 to January 2026, they rose year over year during the next two months, up 5% in February and 7% in March. So, while the quarter remained nearly flat year over year, at +0.8%, momentum picked up as it progressed.

In addition, there have now been two consecutive quarter-over-quarter jumps in jobs live, including an 8% bump in Q1 2026.

There have been other encouraging signs for those hoping the job market will pick up sooner than later.

• Mergers and acquisitions activity is strong: During the first quarter, biopharma companies spent about $46.8 billion across 19 acquisitions. Gilead Sciences had the largest deal, thanks to the pharma’s $7.8 billion takeover of biotech Arcellx.
• Initial public offerings are picking up: While only eight companies went public in 2025, based on BioSpace tallies, seven did so in Q1 of this year, including Generate:Biomedicines. The biotech’s initial public offering is expected to hit around $400 million in gross proceeds.
• Manufacturing employment opportunities are growing: During Q1, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis announced they’ll add nearly 2,000 manufacturing jobs within the next few years at facilities they’re building across the U.S.

There are also increasing opportunities available for those open to contract work, based on BioSpace data. From March 2025 to March 2026, contract job postings live on the BioSpace website jumped 94%. Full-time roles rose just 5%.

Looking at the overall job market, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported some encouraging numbers, although there are a few caveats. In March, the U.S. added 178,000 jobs, which was more than expected, according to the April 3 employment situation summary. However, that increase may be due in part to about 31,000 nurses and healthcare workers who were on strike in February returning to work and the easing of harsh winter storms, which affected hiring in weather-sensitive industries.

The BLS report also noted that the unemployment rate ticked down from 4.4% in February to 4.3% in March. However, the number of long-term unemployed—those who’ve been jobless for at least 27 weeks (roughly six months)—was up 322,000 over the year and accounted for 25.4% of all unemployed people. The percentage may have been even higher within biopharma, based on a survey of 1,499 biotech and pharma professionals late last year that informed the BioSpace 2026 U.S. Life Sciences Employment Outlook report. It found that 49% of unemployed respondents had been out of work for at least six months and 26% for more than a year.

As to how many of those who are jobless are vying for open biopharma roles, there’s some good news. The number of companies making or planning layoffs slowed year over year in the first quarter. During Q1, 35 biopharmas cut or projected they’ll cut their workforces, based on BioSpace tallies* through April 6. More than twice as many (74) made or projected layoffs during the first quarter of 2025.

While affected Q1 headcount is higher this year (6,593) than last year (5,926), nearly half of the 2026 number is connected to one company whose cuts didn’t immediately push people into the job market. Within the next three years, Viatris plans to lay off up to 10% of its global workforce, which could affect about 3,000 staffers given it has more than 30,000 employees, according to an SEC filing.

Two other sizable Q1 cuts also didn’t send biopharma professionals into the job market right away. While Evotec will let go of up to 800 people, those layoffs are happening later this year and in 2027. Also, at least part of a Takeda restructuring that will affect 634 staffers is months away from starting. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice, the effective dates for 247 employees being let go in Cambridge, Massachusetts, run from July 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2027.

As to employment opportunities moving forward, panelists at the BioSpace “2026 Hiring Trends and Job Market Signals” webinar in February were optimistic. Bryan Blair, vice president of biotech and pharma recruiting at GQR Global Markets; Eric Celidonio, founder and managing partner of Sci.bio Recruiting; and Leslie Loveless, CEO and managing partner of Slone Partners all noted the market looks better than it did a year ago. Blair expects it will gradually return to normal, while Loveless highlighted positive hiring discussions with clients.

“They are conversations about real opportunities, and those jobs are opening, and so that is a wonderful place to be,” she said.

*Layoff numbers exclude contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms. To tally the cuts, BioSpace compiles data for known workforce reductions. The number of employees affected is identified or estimated primarily through information in company press releases, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, SEC filings and other media outlets’ reports or via confirmation from company officials.

Not all companies disclose downsizing, and some share only the percentage of staff affected. Some biopharmas provide total numbers retrospectively rather than disclosing individual workforce reductions as they happen. 

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