Higher competition for fewer roles remains the status quo for biopharma professionals, based on BioSpace data. Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that recent job growth is lower than previously believed.
Biopharma professionals eyeing the job market may have a hard time finding signs of positivity, based on BioSpace and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Applications have far outpaced job postings live on the BioSpace website in 2025, and positions live dropped 25% year over year in July, signaling high competition for limited opportunities. On a broader scale for all industries, BLS reported Aug. 1 that the U.S. added 73,000 jobs last month, below economists’ expectations. For example, a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal, quoted by multiple media outlets, forecasted the number at 100,000.
Looking at BioSpace data specifically, in July there were about 7,400 jobs live on the website and nearly 34,000 applications for those positions, the third-largest gap for those measures in 2025. In addition, last month’s applications jumped 243% year over year.
Average job postings live on BioSpace also point toward challenges for job seekers, as they’ve decreased year over year during every month of 2025.
Further adding strain is July’s layoff surge. Biopharmas cut, or projected they would cut, about 7,900 employees (including Merck’s projections of roughly 6,000 as part of a multiyear process), which was more people than in any month of 2024 or 2025 and a 487% year-over-year increase, based on BioSpace tallies.* Those numbers exclude contract development and manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations, tools and services businesses and medical device firms.
Recent U.S. Job Growth Far Short of Expectations
From the broader perspective, BLS’ Aug. 1 jobs report caused a stir not only because the July numbers fell below expectations but also because of drastic revisions for the two previous months. The agency adjusted May’s jobs added from 144,000 to 19,000 and June’s from 147,000 to 14,000.
At the start of their BLS report analysis, “July and the No Good, Very Bad Jobs Report,” Wells Fargo economists summed up the situation briefly but pointedly, writing, “The July employment report was a dud.” They highlighted that the revised numbers for jobs added in May and June (-258,000) represented the steepest downward adjustment for the prior two months’ data since May 2020. Hiring, they wrote, was not as stable as previously thought.
“Hiring weakness across industries carried into July,” the economists added, explaining that while there was an 83,000 gain in the private sector, a narrow range of industries are expanding headcount.
“Healthcare & social assistance (+73K) continues to be the stalwart of growth, but ‘white collar’ jobs like professional & business services (-14K), information (-2K) and finance continue to struggle,” they wrote.
Those numbers are noteworthy given a May BioSpace survey found that 56% of employed and 81% of unemployed respondents were considering jobs outside of biopharma. Layoffs and disillusionment with the industry were among the factors driving that sentiment.
Employed Biopharma Pros Note Job Market Changes
Although the job market is challenging, that doesn’t mean that biotech and pharma professionals who are currently working intend to stay put in their roles. A July BioSpace LinkedIn poll found that 81% of employed respondents plan to look for a new biopharma position in the next 12 months.
That said, some may not take action or might not look for long, according to Bryan Blair, vice president of life sciences at GQR, a talent solutions firm. He noted that the desire to find new roles can end quickly for those who haven’t been in the job market for the past two to three years and are noticing how much it’s changed.
“One of the common sentiments they’ll share is ‘What happened with recruiters sending me all these messages about open jobs? I never get anything anymore. I could go a month or two without getting a message,’” Blair said.
In addition, he noted, some employed biopharma professionals aren’t getting responses to job applications or aren’t getting interviews.
“So, to me, talking to people all the time, it doesn’t feel like 81% are proactively looking, but I think a lot of them just have lost steam very quickly, and they would leave for a good opportunity like that,” Blair said.
*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, WARN 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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