The biopharma job market remains challenging, based on BioSpace data. In August, job postings live on the website dropped 32% year over year. In addition, during the first eight months of 2025, over 26,000 people were laid off or projected to be laid off.
Biopharma professionals seeking work face limited job openings and high competition for those positions, based on BioSpace data. Job postings live on the website hit their lowest number yet for 2025 in August—6,385—and dropped 32% year over year. Meanwhile, applications last month (32,089) far outpaced postings, as has been the case throughout the year.
Average job postings live on BioSpace also dropped last month, hitting their lowest number for 2025—2,903—and have decreased year over year in every month.
The competitive job market may be especially frustrating for those seeking work following layoffs. There are likely thousands upon thousands of people that fall into that category. Through August, 167 companies laid off or projected they’d lay off about 26,600 employees, based on BioSpace tallies excluding contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms.*
In August alone, 22 companies let go or projected they’d let go of about 5,300 staffers, the second-highest monthly total of people affected through the first eight months of 2025. However, September cuts have already outpaced that number, as Novo Nordisk on Sept. 10 announced it intends to cut about 9,000 employees globally, including around 5,000 in Denmark.
Other large cuts made or announced this year include:
- Bayer let go of about 2,000 employees during the first quarter.
- Teva Pharmaceuticals is laying off around 2,900 staffers worldwide by 2027.
- Merck is projecting it will let go of about 6,000 employees globally as part of a multiyear process.
A recent BioSpace survey captured layoffs’ negative impact on biopharma professionals. While many of the 110 respondents felt that being let go ended up being for the best, 34% disagreed. One person noted that it’s been “very tough” to find a new job since their company went bankrupt, while another called the job market the slowest in 50 years.
Another respondent shared that being laid off has set them back years in their career, adding that “Being included in two layoffs in a row has been stressful, emotionally draining, and has forced me to dip into savings.”
Latest BLS Numbers Highlight Job Market Woes
BioSpace is not alone in sharing data that show the job market is challenging for biopharma professionals. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports released this month also revealed issues. For example, in the professional and business services sector, which includes scientific services, the bureau revised down by 158,000 the number of jobs added for the year ending in March, according to a Sept. 9 report.
A Sept. 5 report shared additional findings related to—or of interest to—biopharma professionals.
- While the U.S. added 22,000 jobs in August, below expectations of around +75,000, the professional and business services sector lost 17,000.
- The sector’s unemployment rate was unchanged in August at 4.2%, slightly below the overall U.S. rate of 4.3%, which was up from 4.2% the previous month.
- The number of long-term unemployed people in the U.S.—those jobless for at least 27 weeks—has increased by 385,000 over the year and in August accounted for 25.7% of all of those without jobs.
Reacting to the Sept. 5 report, Wells Fargo economists noted, “Today’s data, in conjunction with other labor market data received in recent months, suggest the labor market has hit stall speed. The weak pace of hiring and gradual uptick in the unemployment rate creates risks to the Fed’s full employment mandate at the same time that inflation is creeping higher due to historically high tariffs.”
As to how different sectors are affected, the economists wrote that “Weakness remains widespread across industries, making it difficult to drive a bounce-back in the near term.”
Promising Job News From California
There has been some positive news on the biopharma jobs front this month. Last week, the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity announced that the state of California has awarded $23.9 million to LA County life sciences projects to advance inclusive growth and create 10,000 regional jobs by 2030.
Grant recipients include the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), which is receiving $700,000 to help attract two to four large life sciences companies from outside California to the county. That effort will include securing commitments for up to 1,000 new jobs.
In the announcement, LAEDC President and CEO Stephen Cheung said his nonprofit’s project builds a future where the life sciences sector is a catalyst for inclusive, high-quality jobs for people in Los Angeles County.
“By anchoring leading life science companies in our region, we’re laying the foundation for an economy that is more innovative, equitable, and resilient,” he said. “LA County has the talent, the research, and the infrastructure. This funding allows us to connect the dots and help life sciences companies land here, grow here, and hire here.”
*To tally layoffs, 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 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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