Competition for biotech and pharma employment picked up year over year and remains strong, according to BioSpace data. A survey late last year showed that 64% of employed/contract and 96% of unemployed respondents will actively look for work in 2026.
As biopharma professionals wait for the job market to pick up, competition for open roles is increasing even among those already employed, based on the upcoming BioSpace 2026 U.S. Life Sciences Employment Outlook report.
In a survey late last year of 1,499 biotech and pharma professionals that informs the report publishing Jan. 27, 52% of employed/contract respondents said they were actively looking for jobs, up from 46% in 2024. In addition, 64% said they’ll actively look this year, compared with 59% who planned to do so in 2025.
There were increases among unemployed respondents as well, with 93% actively seeking employment when surveyed, up slightly from 91% in 2024. In addition, 96% said they’ll actively look this year, up slightly from 95% who planned to do so in 2025.
Multiple survey respondents expressed concern about the competitive job market, noting that there are too many people pursuing the same positions and too few roles to support them.
“There are so many people applying for one job it is insane,” one participant wrote. “It’s almost like a needle in a haystack actually getting an offer.”
Applications Outpaced Jobs Live as Layoffs Continued
BioSpace data that show that every month last year, applications surged ahead of job postings live on the website. The largest gaps between those measures were in May, June and July. Applications in those months were about 4.3, 4.7 and 4.6 times higher than jobs live, respectively.
As to why competition was so high during that time period, one reason is there were significant industry layoffs in the summer. From May through July, 68 companies let go or projected they would let go of about 15,200 staffers, according to BioSpace tallies.* That number represented 36% of the roughly 42,700 employees affected by made or projected cuts in 2025, a 47% year-over-year increase.
In addition, Department of Health and Human Services cuts in the first half of the year hit thousands of FDA and NIH staffers.
Multiple survey respondents commented on unemployment pushing people into the job market. One participant noted that biopharma is struggling and pointed to layoffs, downsizing and reprioritizing as issues.
“Very few jobs available with a huge pool of candidates looking for a job,” they wrote. “Every job post had hundreds of candidates applying.”
Another respondent commented, “Worried that a typical Research/ Discovery leadership job is almost impossible to find due to extreme numbers of unemployed scientists.”
Competitive Job Market ‘Exhausting Race for Survival’
Among survey participants worried about the competitive nature of the job market, several had serious concerns about their employment prospects. One referred to the market as “an exhausting race for survival.” They noted that it seeks to invest only in those who are already 90% to 100% skilled in a job’s requirements. That approach can have a negative trickle-down effect, according to the respondent.
“If companies do not make an effort to up-skill people, the market will undermine itself in the long run, as scientists become increasingly unable to compete in their own field and companies will continue to look for a ‘needle in a haystack’ candidate for each position, making matters worse for both parties,” they wrote.
Other comments included:
- “Due to my age, gap in experience, and the number of qualified people looking for work, I am uncertain I will be given the opportunity to rejoin the work I am passionate about.”
- “I’m unemployed. Two of my friends from my PhD program at Princeton are unemployed. We’re not complete idiots, I don’t think, but nobody wants us.
- “I just hope I can find a job at someplace better than Mickey D’s.”
Some respondents were concerned about how long they’ll have to wait until the job market improves. That may happen sooner than later. Two industry experts told BioSpace in November that improvement should begin later this year.
R&D Tops List of Sought-After Functions
Regarding where competition for jobs is highest, employed/contract and unemployed survey participants had similar responses when asked in which function they were looking for their next role. The top pick for both groups was the same: research and development (49%).
Competition was fierce in science/R&D in 2025 based on BioSpace data, with applications outpacing jobs live throughout the year. On average, there were roughly 6.2 times more applications than positions live each month.
Technology, including artificial intelligence/machine learning, was another commonly selected function among survey respondents. It ranked No. 2 for employed/contract workers (26%) and No. 3 for unemployed biopharma professionals (24%).
Rounding out the top three were clinical, which ranked No. 3 (23%) among employed/contract respondents, and quality assurance and control, which landed at No. 2 (27%) among unemployed survey participants.
For technology (IT), clinical, and quality assurance and control functions, applications outpaced jobs live every month in 2025. Competition was fiercest in the IT space, where there were, on average, roughly 6.8 times more applications than positions live each month. It was least fierce in quality assurance and control. There were, on average, about 2.9 times more applications than jobs live each month in that space.
Some Consider Leaving Biopharma
As biotech and pharma professionals navigate the competitive job market, some are thinking about exiting the industry. Among unemployed survey respondents, 85% indicated they’re considering roles outside of biopharma.
One survey participant who is actively looking at other industries commented, “Don’t see biopharma as a viable long term career opportunity any longer.” Another respondent wrote, “I am considering changing industries, but I don’t know what else I could do that would be stimulating and pay enough.”
Yet another survey participant looked backward, second-guessing their career choice.
“There is zero job security in biopharma,” they wrote. “I’m an experienced professional with over a decade of industry experience. I wish I had picked a different field of study and work.”
* 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.
