More biopharma organizations were actively recruiting at the end of 2025 than 2024, based on the new BioSpace employment outlook report. Areas in demand this year include research and development and clinical. Organizations are also prioritizing artificial intelligence hires.
Many biopharma organizations are looking to hire, and some even expect to expand their ranks, based on the newly released BioSpace 2026 U.S. Life Sciences Employment Outlook report. In a survey late last year of 136 professionals with insight into talent acquisition and/or workforce planning activities, 64% of respondents were actively recruiting, up from 59% in the 2024 survey. In addition, 41% predicted that in 2026, their number of open roles will increase, nearly matching the 42% that expected to add open positions in 2025.
Recruitment activity varied by company size, making larger businesses job seekers’ best bet right now. Just 37% of respondents with fewer than 50 employees were actively recruiting, compared to 100% of those with 500–999 employees, 83% of those with 1,000–4,999 and 57% of those with at least 5,000.
Those findings align with what BioSpace Recruitment Manager Greg Clouse has heard from his small to midsized clients.
“I have talked to people who plan on doing hiring this year, but it’s not like they’re rushing to do it all right away,” he said.
The increased year-over-year recruitment activity among survey respondents comes at a good time for biopharma job seekers, especially those recently laid off. In 2025, made or projected workforce cuts affected about 42,700 employees, a 47% jump from 2024.
R&D, Clinical Most Likely Areas for Hiring
As to where hiring activity might be strongest this year, research and development topped survey respondents’ lists, with half expecting to add R&D professionals to their teams. Clinical (48%), manufacturing and production (38%), regulatory (37%) and quality assurance and control (37%) rounded out the top five.
R&D taking the No.1 spot is noteworthy given that research and development was career planning survey respondents’ top pick for the function where they’re seeking their next role. It also proved a hot topic of conversation in the comments section, with some participants expressing concern about job opportunities in that space. Respondent input included:
- “Worried that a typical Research/ Discovery leadership job is almost impossible to find due to extreme numbers of unemployed scientists.”
- “A scary time to have sole experience be within discovery research since early stage efforts are first to be cut. Don’t feel like [I] have the skills to get the jobs that do exist.”
- “I am worried about having trouble finding an entry-level position in Research and Development to start after graduation from university.”
That said, when looking at science/R&D job postings live on the BioSpace website, although there was a downward trend for the first half of 2025, jobs live started rising in the final months. The upward tick is continuing this year, with positions live from Jan. 1 to Jan. 27 (2,483) outnumbering December’s total (2,413).
As to which R&D jobs companies are hiring for, Clouse said he mostly sees lower-level roles such as research associates, first-level scientists or postdocs. In the clinical space, he noted open positions include trial manager and trial associate.
“It seems to me like people are always looking for clinical people,” Clouse said. “I mean, the trials are ongoing. It almost doesn’t matter what the market is, right?”
AI in High Demand
Regarding specific technical skills or areas of research that workforce planning survey respondents anticipated would be in high demand this year, participants most frequently mentioned artificial intelligence (AI). Comments included “Researchers with good understanding of how to leverage AI” and “coupling technology and regulations (AI and Reg Affairs).”
Artificial intelligence was a hot topic in the career planning survey as well. That discussion centered mainly around concerns regarding AI’s impact on hiring and job security and its use in the industry. One respondent noted that fast-growing AI technology and employer expectations aren’t in sync.
“Companies should focus on candidates with strong foundational skills plus reasonable AI tool expertise,” they wrote. They added that it’s problematic if employers look only at AI technologies, as no one will have more than one year of experience with the latest technologies. Foundation candidates, however, will have the right skill set “as they understand core data which is key for any success.”
Some career planning survey respondents expressed optimism about artificial intelligence. Comments included:
- “I’m cautiously optimistic that emerging technologies like AI-driven drug discovery and personalized medicine will create new opportunities, though the path forward will likely require greater adaptability than we’ve seen in recent years.”
- “AI will help create groundbreaking results for the biopharma industry in 2026 and beyond.”
- “On the positive side, the biopharma industry in 2026 looks poised for accelerated innovation, particularly with AI slashing drug discovery timelines by up to 70% and enabling more precise targeting of diseases like cancer and genetic disorders through expanded mRNA and CRISPR technologies.”
Whatever biopharma professionals think about AI, it’s importance is highlighted not only in the BioSpace employment outlook report but also in the Life Sciences Workforce Collective’s 2025 Life Sciences Workforce Trends report with TEConomy Partners. The organizations found that artificial intelligence is one of two existing/emerging technology areas that industry executives consistently identify as impacting talent needs. Executives listed several application areas and use cases for AI tools: automation in manufacturing and operational processes; data analytics and decision making; drug discovery and development; regulatory compliance and quality control; clinical support; customer support; supply chain and logistics optimization; and recruitment and talent management.
For those seeking artificial intelligence roles, AI jobs live on the BioSpace website include scientist and engineering positions.
Looking more broadly at technology, an area in which 29% of workforce planning survey respondents expect to hire in 2026, Clouse noted that data-driven research positions such as data scientist are increasingly common.
“We are seeing more and more of those kinds of things versus just someone who’s sitting in a lab with a coat on, holding pipettes,” he 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.
