With layoffs happening at biopharma companies of all sizes, some may wonder which jobs are safest. Talent acquisition experts spoke to BioSpace about the areas and roles they recommend to biotech and pharma professionals hoping to avoid staff cuts.
For biopharma professionals seeking job security amidst continued layoffs, the best options are high-growth areas and development segments, according to two talent acquisition experts.
As Bryan Blair, vice president of life sciences at talent solutions firm GQR, wrote in a recent LinkedIn post, “The smart career strategy isn’t about finding the ‘safest’ company – it’s about positioning yourself in growth areas regardless of company size.”
Blair told BioSpace that high-growth areas can be particularly beneficial to those who aren’t top 10% performers.
“When you chase the hot area, I do think that that is one way that the more average-level employee can differentiate themselves, because it’s not like you’re going into the most niche thing in the world,” he told BioSpace. “There will be very high demand for somebody willing to do that work.”
High-Growth Areas Include Regulatory, Oncology
High-growth areas Blair recommended were obesity and metabolic disease research; oncology and immunology innovations; digital health and artificial intelligence integration; regulatory and compliance expertise; and specialized manufacturing for biologics. He said he’s seen increased demand among clients for people to fill positions in those spaces and noted that they’re safe for different reasons.
On the regulatory side, for example, Blair highlighted the need for people with regulatory knowledge at biopharma companies due to ongoing changes at the FDA. Those changes include the agency announcing last month a new framework meant to streamline approval of therapies for ultra-rare diseases.
“If you’re somebody who’s well-versed in what is going on with our broader government and how it affects the work we do in pharmaceuticals and biotech, you’re well positioned,” Blair said.
Regarding other high-growth areas, he noted that oncology will always be a safe bet given the need for continued innovation to treat cancer considering cancer cell mutations.
“In terms of safety, that’s probably just about as safe as they come is oncology,” Blair said. “I don’t think that we’ll ever see massive reductions in companies’ oncology portfolios compared to other areas.”
That said, not every therapeutic area used to treat cancer is a safe bet for job security, according to Blair. He noted that cell and gene therapy—once a hot, up-and-coming area—is not a great space for biopharma professionals who aren’t on the manufacturing side, which is when therapies are getting close to making money. This year’s layoffs in that space include cuts at BioNTech. In June, news broke that the company would cut 63 employees at a cell therapy facility it’s shuttering in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
For those looking to get into high-demand areas, Blair said it’s not difficult.
“It’s just about paying attention to ‘OK, the floor is shifting below me,’ and just being on top of where is the market headed?” he said. “I think that you find a lot of safety in doing that.”
Blair also recommended connecting with recruiters, as companies use them to find job candidates they can’t source on their own. This can happen if they need to hire quickly or there aren’t many people doing the type of work they need to address, he explained.
Another factor to keep in mind, according to Blair, is that the cycle of what gets hot in pharmaceuticals can align with the three-year window some use for when to change companies. As an example, he shared that during the past nine years, someone who moved from oncology to cell and gene therapy to GLP-1s is probably very well positioned from a career standpoint, even if a big employer such as Novo Nordisk just laid them off. The reason, he explained, is that companies that did well in those spaces have a lot of name cache with those making hiring decisions.
“Hiring managers are going to bite on these profiles, because you were all part of something big, something successful,” Blair said.
Development Jobs See Steady Demand
Eric Celidonio, founder and managing partner of biopharma recruiting firm Sci.bio Recruiting, told BioSpace that when it comes to biopharma job security, the least vulnerable people are in what he calls the development segments. He said those segments are areas such as regulatory; clinical operations; clinical development; pharmacovigilance; and chemistry, manufacturing and controls. Celidonio noted that while he isn’t seeing increased demand for people to fill those positions, the demand is steady.
When it comes to the development segment, company size typically plays a role in job security, according to Celidonio. He noted that Big Pharma does more development work than smaller biotechs, “so just by virtue of that, you’re safer in a Big Pharma.”
“But,” he added, “if they decide, ‘Hey, we’re cutting out CNS,’ you could be affected just like anyone else, even if you’re great.”
Celidonio cautioned against discovery/research roles, as layoffs have hit them hard, especially in the early discovery area, such as pure research. Workforce reductions this year affecting such positions include cuts at Merck. Last month, news broke that the company is terminating research and discovery efforts in the U.K., leaving about 125 employees jobless. Merck is also ending a roughly $1.3 billion construction project that was expected to provide 120 roles for researchers and technicians.
It’s not a great story on the early arc of drug development, particularly on the discovery side, Celidonio noted.
“Those people that trained for 15 years to get their Ph.D. and postdoc, that’s a really tough break, and I feel for them,” he said.
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