The Digest of Biotech Job Trends in Massachusetts 2017 Quarterly Biopharma Job Market Report: Q2 2017
About the 3-Month Report MassBioEd produces a 3-Month Report on biopharmaceutical job trends each quarter of the year. The report compares job listings for the most current three-month period with job listings for the same three-month period of the previous year to determine underlying trends in job listings. About the MassBioEd Foundation MassBioEd engages teachers, inspires students, and guides the life sciences workforce. Our BioTeach program supports Massachusetts teachers as they work to engage students through lab-centered, inquiry-based learning. Our Job Trends initiative identifies workforce needs and illuminates the pathway from the classroom to careers in the life sciences. About The Digest of Biotech Jobs Trends in Massachusetts The 3-Month Report is a part of MassBioEd s ongoing Digest of Biotech Jobs Trends in Massachusetts, which also includes Briefs, a Medical Device Snapshot, and an annual Job Trends Forecast. The Briefs present basic data and analysis on particular aspects of biopharma industry job trends. The initial 2015 Briefs are focused upon entry level position job trends in the biopharmaceutical industry. The objectives in publishing the Briefs is to provide basic information about job listings trends, skills required of candidates, prevalence of degree requirements for high trending occupations. The Annual Job Trends Forecast is intended to provide greater insight based on additional study in these areas. Acknowledgements The analysis found in the 3-Month Report was conducted by Mark Bruso, Manager of Labor Market Research, under the direction of MassBioEd Foundation Executive Director, Peter Abair. Erica Dickinson, Product Support Manager at Burning Glass provided able assistance to the MassBioEd research team in effectively using data from Burning Glass Technologies. MassBio, the industry council serving the biopharmaceutical community of the Massachusetts region, provided support for this series and MassBioEd s ongoing job trends initiative. For more MassBioEd job trends analysis, visit MassBioEd.org. [2]
Table of Contents Quarterly Highlights 4 Overview 4 Top Occupations 7 Fastest Growing Occupations 8 Key Occupational Trends. 9 Regional Breakdown 12 Skills & Competencies.. 15 Top Entry Level Occupations... 17 Top Companies. 18 Appendix... 19 [3]
Quarterly Highlights Continuing a trend, the North and Metrowest regions continued their relative growth, as they grew 24% and 21%, respectively in Q2 2017. Boston/Cambridge grew by 0.4%. Industry employment in Massachusetts remained stagnant from July through November 2016 before increasing to a record high of 69,470 in December 2016, the latest month with data available. Quarterly job listings in Q2 2017 increased 7.9% over Q2 2016. This represents a change over previous two quarters, where the year-over-year changes were -15.8% and -10.6%, respectively. Overview The total number of listings for Q2 2017 (April June) is generally in line with historical averages. There were 6,683 job listings in the quarter, an amount unsurpassed since Q1 2016, including nearly 500 more openings than in the same time period in 2016. 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Monthly Listings v. Employment, Past 2 Years 64,752 69,470 70,000 69,000 68,000 67,000 66,000 65,000 64,000 63,000 62,000 Job Listings: 3-Month Moving Avg. Job Listings: Monthly Industry Employment: Mass. December 2016 saw a record high for employment in the state, however between July and November 2016 the industry added no new net jobs a rare feat during a period of rapid expansion. Job listings especially the 3-month moving average are a harbinger of employment changes within the industry. Between July 2015 and March 2016 there was a [4]
steady climb in the rolling average of monthly listings, which coincided with a steep increase in employment. The spring of 2016 saw a general decline in listings followed by a decline in employment during the summer of that year a lag of about 3 months. Fall 2016 saw an increased amount of job listings, which manifested itself in late 2016, when employment grew sharply after a brief dip. Because employment data becomes available six months after the fact, it is impossible to confirm this trend in real time. But, based on recent history, the decline in job listings in late-2016 may begin to show itself in slowing employment numbers for the early-2017 months. Also, job listings numbers rebounded in spring 2017, which could indicate an increase in employment for summer 2017. 7% 6% Rolling 12-Month Growth Rates of Employment 5.7% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% 1.2% Biopharma - MA Massachusetts - Statewide USA After a brief deceleration of growth in employment in the industry in October and November 2016, growth rebounded by one percentage point in December to 5.7%. This comes as a gradual slowdown in new net jobs added at the statewide and national level which were at 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively by the end of 2016. The 4.5 percentage point gap between the measures is the greatest gap since January 2013; as growth of the economy as a whole moderates, the biopharma industry in Massachusetts has been moving upwards. For the past two years of data, the growth gap between the industry and the rest of the economy has been gradually diverging. [5]
Jan-13 Mar-13 May-13 Jul-13 Sep-13 Nov-13 Jan-14 Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Jan-15 Mar-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Nov-15 Jan-16 Mar-16 May-16 Jul-16 Sep-16 Nov-16 Jan-17 Mar-17 May-17 1,977 1,911 1,950 2,298 2,287 2,503 2,306 2,393 2,187 2,194 1,828 1,934 2,431 2,206 2,150 2,375 2,130 1,921 2,310 1,901 2,244 2,746 2,946 2,563 Monthly Job Listings, July '15 - June '17 Preceding 12 Months Past 12 Months May & June of 2017 saw large increases over the same months in 2016, as job listings in increased year-over-year by 20% and 18%, respectively. However, before May 2017, nine of the ten preceding months had job listings at a lower mark than the year prior. 80% Rolling Year-Over-Year Changes in Job Listings 60% 40% 20% 0% -20% -40% -60% The pace of growth within the industry appears to be cyclical. A period of rapid increase in job listings from spring 2015 through spring 2016 was sandwiched between prolonged periods of flagging and negative growth. Since March of 2016, the year-over-year change in job listings has been in the negatives more months than it has been positive, including a stretch of 13 months where 11 were in decline when compared to the same month in the previous year. [6]
Q1 17 Rank Q1 16 Rank Top 30 Job Listings by Occupation, April 1 June 30, 2017 Rank +/- Occupation Q1 2016 Q1 2017 Change +/- Pct. Change 1 1 -- Medical Scientist 567 673 +106 +19% 2 2 -- Researcher / Research Associate 308 321 +13 +4% 3 5 +2 Administrative Manager 155 230 +75 +48% 4 3-1 Chemist 196 199 +3 +2% 5 6 +1 Chemical / Process Engineer 151 190 +39 +26% 6 4-2 Biologist 164 178 +14 +9% 7 14 +7 Office / Administrative Assistant 93 129 +36 +38% 8 10 +2 Healthcare Administrator 106 127 +21 +20% 9 8-1 Quality Control Analyst 122 119-3 -2% 10 9-1 Business Development / Sales Manager 107 115 +8 +7% 11 19 +8 Medical Director 77 105 +28 +36% 12 12 -- Project Manager 97 94-3 -3% 13 17 +4 Biostatistician 78 92 +14 +18% 14 11-3 Clinical Research Coordinator / Manager 100 87-13 -13% 15 13-2 Laboratory Technician 96 80-16 -17% 16 16 -- Marketing Manager 80 76-4 -5% 17 21 +4 Software Developer / Engineer 76 75-1 -1% 18 18 -- Program Manager 77 73-4 -6% 19 7-12 Sales Representative* 132 72-60 -45% 20 23 +3 Biological Technician 64 71 +7 +11% 21 28 +7 HR / Labor Relations Specialist 54 63 +9 +17% 22 27 +5 Financial Manager 55 62 +7 +13% 23 29 +6 Compliance Manager 53 60 +7 +12% 24 30 +6 Quality Control Systems Managers 53 59 +6 +12% 25 45 +20 Natural Science Research Manager 29 59 +30 +103% 26 25-1 Product Manager 60 56-4 -7% 27 40 +13 Systems Analyst 34 52 +18 +53% 28 34 +6 Accountant 40 51 +11 +30% 29 24-5 Laboratory Technologist 62 51-11 -18% 30 37 +7 Customer Service Representative 37 47 +10 +26% Methodology: For calculating occupational totals and monthly total of job postings MassBioEd used the following method for non-stem positions, the MassBio percentage for each NAICS code. For STEM positions all postings within 3254, MassBio percentage used for 5417, and the Burning Glass Filter: Biotech for the remaining NAICS codes of 622, 6113, 6215, 3345, and 5413. All Medical Scientist, Biochemist, Microbiologist, Biomedical Engineer, Biological Technician, Chemical Technician, and Quality Control Analyst openings were counted, regardless of NAICS code. [7]
Q2 17 Rank Q2 16 Rank Fastest Growing Occupations by Job Listings, Q2 2017 v. Q2 2016 Rank +/- Occupation Q2 2016 Q2 2017 Change +/- Pct. Change 31 110 +79 Operations Manager / Supervisor 10 46 +36 +380% 42 80 +38 Chemical Technician 16 33 +17 +106% 25 45 +20 Natural Science Research Manager 29 59 +29 +103% 45 70 +25 Communications / PR Manager 17 31 +14 +80% 32 47 +15 Attorney 27 46 +19 +67% 27 40 +13 Systems Analyst 34 52 +18 +53% 3 5 +2 Administrative Manager 155 230 +75 +48% 34 42 +8 Mechanical Engineer 31 43 +12 +39% 35 44 +9 Production Worker 30 41 +11 +39% 7 14 +7 Office / Administrative Assistant 93 129 +35 +38% 11 19 +8 Medical Director 77 105 +28 +36% 40 51 +11 Computer Systems Engineer / Architect 25 34 +9 +36% 28 34 +6 Accountant 40 51 +11 +30% 30 37 +7 Customer Service Representative 37 47 +10 +26% 5 6 +1 Chemical / Process Engineer 151 190 +39 +26% 46 52 +6 Validation Engineer 25 31 +6 +24% 44 49 +5 Phlebotomist 27 33 +6 +21% 8 10 +2 Healthcare Administrator 106 127 +21 +20% 1 1 -- Medical Scientist 567 673 +106 +19% 13 17 +4 Biostatistician 78 92 +14 +18% 21 28 +7 HR / Labor Relations Specialist 54 63 +9 +17% 22 27 +5 Financial Manager 55 62 +7 +13% 23 29 +6 Compliance Manager 53 60 +7 +12% 24 30 +6 Quality Control Systems Managers 53 59 +6 +12% 20 23 +3 Biological Technician 64 71 +7 +11% 6 4-2 Biologist 164 178 +14 +9% 10 9-1 Business Development / Sales Manager 107 115 +8 +7% 43 43 -- Microbiologist 31 33 +2 +6% 37 36-1 Regulatory Affairs Specialist 38 40 +2 +6% 2 2 -- Researcher / Research Associate 308 321 +13 +4% Methodology: For calculating occupational totals and monthly total of job postings MassBioEd used the following method for non-stem positions, the MassBio percentage for each NAICS code. For STEM positions all postings within 3254, MassBio percentage used for 5417, and the Burning Glass Filter: Biotech for the remaining NAICS codes of 622, 6113, 6215, 3345, and 5413. Only occupations with at least 15 listings in Q4 2016 were included. All Medical Scientist, Biochemist, Microbiologist, Biomedical Engineer, Biological Technician, Chemical Technician, and Quality Control Analyst openings were counted, regardless of NAICS code. [8]
Key Occupational Trends In recent quarters, demand for particular occupations has risen and fallen in the biopharma sector much more than others. This section seeks to explore those occupations and to highlight those trending in either direction. We aggregated the job listings totals, changes in job listings, and percentage change for the past four quarters, and compared it to the year prior. Here we look at the largest risers and fallers, by both sheer increase and decrease and by year-over-year percentage point change. Top 20 Occupations by YoY Gains Total YoY YoY Pct. Listings Diff Change Chemical / Process Engineer 926 +228 +33% Medical Scientist 2,535 +164 +7% Operations Manager / Supervisor 197 +164 +486% Administrative Manager 911 +143 +19% Natural Science Research Manager 213 +86 +67% Chemist 772 +57 +8% Biological Technician 279 +51 +22% Chemical Technician 113 +50 +79% Researcher / Research Associate 1,229 +49 +4% Attorney 188 +45 +31% Software QA Engineer / Tester 71 +37 +108% Biomedical Engineer 66 +30 +85% Medical Director 378 +28 +8% Biochemist 109 +26 +31% College Professor / Instructor 121 +25 +26% Healthcare Administrator 479 +24 +5% Chief Executive Officer 71 +21 +41% Writer 29 +20 +223% Biologist 626 +18 +3% Biostatistician 363 +18 +5% As industry job listings contracted by 4% during this timeframe, increases in listings in these occupations are all the more impressive. The occupation Chemical/ Process Engineer tops the list, increasing by 228 openings in the past four quarters over the year prior. Many are STEMrelated occupations that are integral to the industry: Research Managers, Biological Technician, Chemical Technician, Biomedical Engineer, and Biochemist listings also grew by over 10% year-over-year. The only non-stem positions included in this table are Administrative Managers, Attorneys, and Writers. The next table is sorted by greatest percentage growth. We limit the scope to those with at least 20 total openings in the past four quarters. [9]
Top 20 Occupations by Pct. Change Attorney 188 +45 +31% Process Engineer Top 20 Occupations by YoY Decline (+33%), and Biochemist (+31%). Many of these occupations only had a few listings, so they generally make up a tiny sliver of total industry job openings. To the right are the twenty occupations ranked by sheer decline in job listings compared to the previous four quarters. Of particular note is Total Listings YoY Diff YoY Pct. Change Operations Manager / Supervisor 197 +164 +486% Writer 29 +20 +223% Software QA Engineer / Tester 71 +37 +108% Biomedical Engineer 66 +30 +85% Chemical Technician 113 +50 +79% Natural Science Research Manager 213 +86 +67% Epidemiologist 27 +10 +60% Logistician / Supply Chain Specialist 46 +17 +58% Product Development Engineer 26 +8 +44% Food Service Team Member 23 +7 +43% Chief Executive Officer 71 +21 +41% Sales Supervisor 25 +7 +40% Health and Safety Engineer 26 +7 +39% Data Scientist 62 +17 +38% Data Entry Clerk 27 +7 +38% Technical Sales Representative 24 +6 +37% Payroll Specialist 37 +10 +36% Chemical / Process Engineer 926 +228 +33% Biochemist 109 +26 +31% Total Listings The past 12 months saw an increase of nearly 500% for openings in the occupation Operations Manager/ Supervisor, which far surpasses any other occupation on this list. Other key occupations experiencing incredible growth in recent quarters include Biomedical Engineer (+85%), Chemical Technician (+79%), Research Manager (+67%), Data Scientist (+38%), Chemical/ YoY Diff YoY Pct. Change Sales Representative 300-270 -47% Project Manager 361-167 -32% Manufacturing/ Production Technician 194-98 -34% Software Developer / Engineer 425-97 -19% Quality Inspector / Technician 189-80 -30% General Manager 241-75 -24% Financial Manager 201-73 -27% Technical Writer 149-67 -31% Cyber Security Engineer / Analyst 63-64 -50% Compliance Officer / Analyst 87-61 -41% HR / Labor Relations Specialist 225-59 -21% Product Manager 216-54 -20% Production Supervisor 105-53 -33% Clinical Research Coordinator / Mgr. 314-52 -14% Business / Management Analyst 177-47 -21% Computer Systems Engineer 121-45 -27% Office / Administrative Assistant 429-43 -9% Training and Development Manager 35-43 -55% Procurement / Sourcing Manager 47-42 -47% Marketing Manager 393-42 -10% [10]
the drastic drop in openings for sales representatives in Massachusetts in the past 12 months a drop of 270 amounting to a decrease of almost 50%. Compliance Officers (- 41%), Manufacturing/ Production Technician (-34%), and Quality Inspector/ Technicians (- Top 20 Occupations by YoY Pct. Decline Total YoY YoY Pct. Listings Diff Change Training and Development Manager 35-43 -55% Computer Scientist 36-41 -54% Cyber Security Engineer / Analyst 63-64 -50% Sales Representative 300-270 -47% Procurement / Sourcing Manager 47-42 -47% Training and Development Specialist 40-33 -45% Account Executive 30-22 -43% Retail Store Manager / Supervisor 58-42 -42% Compliance Officer / Analyst 87-61 -41% CIO / Director of Information Technology 56-39 -41% Safety Manager 27-19 -41% Clinical Data Systems Specialist / Manager 45-30 -40% Auditor 47-29 -38% Database Administrator 57-35 -38% Facilities Manager 23-14 -37% Manufacturing/ Production Technician 194-98 -34% Production Supervisor 105-53 -33% Project Manager 361-167 -32% Technical Writer 149-67 -31% Quality Inspector / Technician 189-80 -30% 32%), and Technical Writers (-31%). 30%) are all noteworthy occupations that also saw rates of decline of over 30%. Lastly, the table at left explores the occupations with the greatest decline, measured by percentage difference. Outside of those discussed in the previous table, there has been large decline in demand for Clinical Data Systems Specialist/ Managers (-40%), Project Managers (- Many of the greatest risers in job listings originate from bench positions or those in datarelated occupations, while the occupations experiencing the greatest decreases in demand in the biopharma industry in Massachusetts were from many different areas. The startling decline in demand for Sales Representatives, Manufacturing/ Production Technicians, Project Managers, Technical Writers, and Quality Inspector/ Technicians warrants additional attention and discussion, outside the scope of this report. Please note that some occupations are more likely than others to be included on the list of largest fallers. Manufacturing positions are more concentrated and are more dependent on the flow of therapy approvals. One biomanufacturing facility coming online in the state in a quarter may distort year-over-year comparisons greatly. For Industry Projections through 2022, please view our 2017 Annual Forecast. [11]
Regional Breakdown As has been the case since MassBioEd began creating quarterly job market reports, the Boston/ Cambridge core Region Q1 16 Share Q1 17 Share % Chg. West 89 1.5% 89 1.4% 0% Central 403 6.7% 314 5.0% -22% Metrowest 1,052 17.4% 1,274 20.2% +21% North 648 10.7% 800 12.7% +24% Boston/Cambridge 3,607 59.8% 3,621 57.4% 0% South & Cape 236 3.9% 208 3.3% -12% remains the region with the greatest number of job listings, albeit with a smaller share of all industry listings than Q2 last year. Continuing a trend in recent quarters, both Metrowest and North regions are seeing greater shares of industry listings, increasing by over two percentage points each, and 21% and 24% overall, respectively. Presently, the two regions make up 33% of all industry listings, up from 25.5% in Q1 2016, as both regions see an ever-greater share of job openings. Concurrently with this trend, the Core region has seen its share drop from 63.4% to 57.4%. The West and South & Cape regions still lag behind the other regions in job listings, together accounting for about 5% of all industry listings. South & Cape and Central were the only two regions with declining job listings when compared to Q2 2016, with decreases of 12% and 22%, respectively. [12]
70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Share of Listings by Region, Past 2 Years Q3 15 Q4 15 Q1 16 Q2 16 Q3 16 Q4 16 Q1 17 Q2 17 West Central South & Cape Metrowest Core North The line graph at left shows the share of all industry listings in each of the six regions in Massachusetts since July 2015. In the ordinal sense, the regions remained the same. As mentioned previously, the recent dip in Boston/Cambridge has coincided with an increase in the North and Metrowest regions. Despite this, Boston/Cambridge is still home to roughly six-in-ten industry job listings. These three regions together were the only three to experience any discernable trends in job listings over the course of the past two years. Consistently, nine of ten job listings since mid-2015 have been at organizations based in Boston, or immediately to its west or north. Top Employers On the following page are the top 10 organizations by job listings for each of the six regions in Massachusetts in Q2 2017. We use this as a chance to see which organizations have been most active in recent quarters, not to gauge organizational health. The number of jobs that an organization will post will rise and fall according to that organization s business plan. A high number of listings in one quarter or year and a small number of listings by the same organization in another quarter or year may reflect a number of different factors, including that the organization met its hiring goals in keeping with its business plan in one quarter and as a result has fewer listings in a subsequent quarter. A rise or fall in the number of job listings in one quarter should not be used as a barometer of an organization s health. We provide these listings for the more basic purpose of showing which companies influenced talent supply and demand in hiring in one particular quarter. [13]
Below are the top ten employers, by job listings, in Q2 17 Boston/Cambridge Listings Metrowest Listings Takeda Pharmaceuticals 288 Alkermes 110 Biogen 267 Sanofi Genzyme 103 Massachusetts General Hospital 230 Shire 101 Novartis 197 PerkinElmer 63 Pfizer 173 Quest Diagnostics 47 Dana Farber Cancer Institute 111 Sunovion 44 Sanofi Genzyme 101 Biogen 43 Ironwood Pharmaceuticals 100 Astellas 36 Harvard University 96 Cardinal Health 32 Amgen 92 Astrazeneca 29 Northeast Listings South & Cape Listings Pfizer 138 Merck & Company 42 Merck & Company 129 Life Technologies 20 Life Technologies 54 Oxford Immunotec 9 Abbott Laboratories 25 Cape Cod Healthcare 8 Parexel 19 Cardinal Health 6 Charles River Company 18 Quest Diagnostics 5 Lahey Health 14 Sanofi Genzyme 5 EMD Serono 13 Corbus Pharmaceuticals 4 Millipore Corporation 10 Laboratory Corp. of America 4 Millipore Sigma 9 Upsher Smith Laboratories 3 Central Listings West Listings Pfizer 77 Baystate Health 24 Bristol-Myers Squibb 60 UMass Amherst 9 Sanofi Genzyme 33 Laboratory Corp. of America 4 AbbVie 30 Cooley Dickinson Health Care 3 Laboratory Corp. of America 26 Takeda Pharmaceuticals 3 UMass Medical School 25 Smith College 3 Danaher Corporation 19 Astrazeneca 2 Charles River Company 14 Life Technologies 2 IDEXX Laboratories 12 Sanofi Genzyme 2 UMass Memorial Healthcare 10 Amherst College 2 [14]
Skills & Competencies Every quarter, MassBioEd attempts to identify skillsets sought by employers. Moreover, we examine in-demand skills and techniques listed by employers in job openings and compare them to a benchmark. For Q2 STEM Listings, Min. Degree Level Q2 17 Postings Share Associate & Under 200 7% Bachelor s Degree 1,962 65% Master s Degree 279 9% Ph.D. 570 19% 2017, we look at the rates at which biopharma organizations request skills and technique expertise and compare them with the two-year period beforehand. Thus, any large increases or decreases in demand can be compared against a longer timeframe than we have done in prior reports. We have compiled the top specialized skills for job listings across the state at four levels of minimum educational attainment Ph.D., Master s, Bachelor s, and Associate & Under. To narrow our scope, we only looked at biotech-related STEM positions, so as to exclude supporting occupations (e.g. Administrative and Financial) from the aggregate totals (see above). These are the occupational categories which are growing the fastest. In doing so, it gives us insight into the skills demanded of new hires in positions essential to the continued expansion and success of the industry here in Massachusetts. The table on this and the following page shows the skills, techniques, and equipment proficiency that experienced the greatest growth and decline in demand in Q2 2017 versus the two years prior. Listings were for all experience levels. Skills were ranked by percentage-point change in demand. Growth & Decline, Q2 2017 vs April 2015 March 2017, by Degree Level Skills Assoc. Share Ppt Inc % Chg Skills Assoc. Share Ppt Inc % Chg SAP 12% +5.2% +74% Technical Writing 1% -2.5% -63% Process Improvement 12% +4.1% +51% Cell Culturing 14% -2.3% -14% PH Meters 4% +3.0% +293% Chromatography 10% -1.7% -15% Data Analysis 7% +2.4% +58% GLP 4% -1.6% -27% Lean Manufacturing 3% +2.0% +160% Validation 14% -1.4% -9% Sterile Procedures 3% +1.9% +198% Western Blot 2% -0.7% -29% Spectrophotometers 2% +1.7% +2136% Root Cause Analysis 4% -0.7% -15% Six Sigma 2% +1.6% +794% Centrifugation 5% -0.5% -9% Tissue Culture 5% +1.5% +38% Microsoft Excel 20% -0.5% -2% HPLC 3% +1.5% +83% Pipetting 1% -0.4% -34% [15]
Skills- B.A. Share Ppt Inc % Chg Skills- B.A. Share Ppt Inc % Chg DNA 7% +2.1% +38% Technical Writing 4% -1.5% -26% Data Entry 5% +2.0% +64% Process Control 1% -1.1% -46% GLP 7% +1.9% +40% Statistics 3% -1.0% -26% Flow Cytometry 5% +1.4% +38% GMP 11% -1.0% -8% Fluorescence 2% +1.2% +127% Chromatography 5% -0.9% -17% Western Blot 4% +1.1% +39% Wet Chemistry 0% -0.9% -73% Relational Databases 2% +1.1% +155% Root Cause Analysis 1% -0.7% -37% Genomics 2% +1.0% +77% DNA Sequencing 0% -0.7% -75% Transfection 2% +0.9% +107% Bioreactors 2% -0.6% -21% SQL 3% +0.8% +40% Regulatory Docs 2% -0.5% -18% Skills Master s Share Ppt Inc % Chg Skills Master s Share Ppt Inc % Chg Data Analysis 16% +2.8% +21% Genetic Testing 1% -3.2% -71% Immunology 8% +2.2% +36% HPLC 5% -2.0% -29% R 5% +2.1% +91% Electrophoresis 2% -1.8% -55% Data Management 13% +1.9% +17% GMP 6% -1.7% -21% Bioinformatics 6% +1.8% +43% Technical Writing 4% -1.6% -28% SQL 4% +1.6% +70% Pharmacokinetics 2% -1.1% -43% Western Blot 5% +1.6% +55% Mammalian Cell Culture 2% -1.0% -31% Python 5% +1.6% +49% Statistics 7% -1.0% -13% Gene Therapy 2% +1.6% +494% GCP 6% -0.7% -10% Cell Culturing 9% +1.5% +18% Oracle 2% -0.6% -30% Skills Ph.D. Share Ppt Inc % Chg Skills Ph.D. Share Ppt Inc % Chg Clinical Development 21% +3.2% +18% Genetic Testing 1% -4.3% -83% Immunology 15% +3.1% +27% Biochemistry 15% -2.7% -16% Pharmacology 16% +2.6% +19% Process Control 1% -1.7% -60% Toxicology 7% +2.6% +62% Manufacturing Processes 3% -1.6% -33% DNA 7% +2.2% +49% Process Validation 2% -1.4% -47% Gene Therapy 4% +2.0% +102% Technical Writing 2% -1.2% -34% Biomarkers 14% +2.0% +17% Protein Purification 1% -1.1% -52% Bioinformatics 11% +1.9% +21% Pharmacokinetics 4% -1.1% -19% Data Analysis 17% +1.6% +11% Experimental Design 7% -1.0% -13% Tissue Culture 2% +1.6% +204% MATLAB 3% -0.9% -23% Skills and areas of expertise, such as technical writing/editing, statistics, and GMP saw declines at three or more minimum levels of education. Data analysis, gene therapy, and statistical software such as SQL and R saw gains at multiple levels of education. By far, the largest skill gainer at any level of educational attainment was SAP at the associate degree and under level increasing by over five percentage points and 74% overall. Genetic testing at the graduate level showed the greatest amount of decrease in demand at over four and five percentage points each. [16]
Top Entry Level Occupations Occupations with Most Entry Level Listings, Q2 2017 Entry Level Listings Software Developer / Engineer 14 0% 86% 14% 0% Quality Inspector / Technician 13 31% 62% 0% 8% Medical Director 11 9% 0% 36% 55% Microbiologist 11 0% 91% 0% 9% Natural Science Research Manager 10 0% 80% 0% 20% Project Manager 10 13% 88% 0% 0% *Note: numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding **Sales Representative is a combination of Burning Glass occupations Sales Representative and Medical/ Pharmaceutical Sales Representative. Manufacturing/ Production Technician is a combination of Burning Glass occupations Production Worker and Manufacturing/ Production Technician. The industrywide share of openings categorized as entry level, i.e. listings requiring less than two years experience, consistently hovers around 23% of all job listings. The occupations in the table above were by and large available to those who have attained at least a four-year degree with a few notable exceptions (Laboratory Technician and Manufacturing/Production Technician). In-demand occupations requiring a graduate degree of some sort are found in Chemical/ Process Engineer, Chemist, Biologist, Biostatistician, and Medical Director openings. Generally, the occupations that appear on this list remain the same from quarter to quarter with the same distribution of educational requirements. Of note, however, is inflation in graduate degree requirements for Chemical/Process Engineer (41% to 56%) and Biologist (28% to 39%). [17] Assoc. Min. Bach. Min. Master s Min. PhD Min. Medical Scientist 141 0% 77% 5% 19% Researcher / Research Associate 128 12% 74% 5% 9% Chemist 75 0% 76% 14% 11% Laboratory Technician 40 50% 50% 0% 0% Biological Technician 39 3% 97% 0% 0% Chemical / Process Engineer 38 0% 45% 11% 45% Biologist 36 0% 61% 17% 22% Clinical Research Coordinator / Manager 28 0% 96% 0% 4% Quality Control Analyst 28 30% 70% 0% 0% Laboratory Technologist 21 5% 95% 0% 0% Manufacturing/ Production Technician** 21 95% 5% 0% 0% Biostatistician 19 0% 63% 26% 11% Chemical Technician 16 13% 88% 0% 0% Sales Representative** 15 0% 93% 0% 7%
Top Companies by Job Listings Firms Q2 2016 Listings Firms Q2 2017 Listings Sanofi Genzyme 654 Pfizer 389 Biogen 374 Takeda 381 Pfizer 231 Biogen 310 Takeda 208 Merck & Company 266 Merck & Company 207 Sanofi Genzyme 247 Vertex 160 Novartis 203 Bristol-Myers Squibb 88 Shire 132 Novartis 80 Life Technologies 131 Quest Diagnostics 72 Alkermes 111 Alnylam 71 Ironwood 100 Ironwood 64 Amgen 97 Life Technologies 62 PerkinElmer 78 PerkinElmer 60 Bristol-Myers Squibb 67 Parexel 56 Quest Diagnostics 63 Cardinal Health 49 Cardinal Health 48 Charles River Company 47 Astrazeneca 47 Amgen 46 Sunovion 44 Danaher Corporation 38 AbbVie 41 AbbVie 31 Abbott Laboratories 37 Sunovion 30 Astellas 37 Non-Profits, Universities, Listings Non-Profits, Universities, Listings and Hospitals Q2 2016 and Hospitals Q2 2017 Mass. General Hospital 284 Mass. General Hospital 245 Harvard University 116 Dana Farber Cancer Institute 159 Boston Children's Hospital 89 Harvard University 96 Dana Farber Cancer Institute 80 Boston University 86 UMass Medical School 63 Beth Israel Deaconess 51 Join our Skills Advisory Group! MassBioEd depends on input from industry experts in our Skills Advisory Group to interpret workforce data and provide guidance on skills needed for jobs in the industry. For more information on the Skills Advisory Group and its role, please contact Mark Bruso at mark.bruso@massbio.org or 617.674.5131. [18]
Appendix MassBioEd utilizes Burning Glass Labor Insight for the bulk of its real-time online job listing data. Per the description on Burning Glass website, their Labor Insight software, collects millions of online job postings [everyday] from close to 40,000 sources and applies [their] patented technology to mine and code detailed data from each posting describing the specific skills, education, experience, and work activities required for the job going well beyond the occupation and industry codes offered in other sources. All job listings data is sourced from Burning Glass Labor Insight, unless otherwise noted. Employment numbers were derived from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), a survey of employers that covers 98 percent of all workers in the country. Staffing patterns, or the count of individual occupations by industry in the state, were found by using Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupation Employment Statistics (OES) Research Estimates. These are derived from sample surveys and thus are approximations subject to sampling error, as well as non-sampling errors by respondents filling out the surveys. [19]