“Employment and pay in biotechnology are swelling, driven by rocketing investment in a sector suddenly flashy for developing drugs and vaccines not only against Covid-19, but a number of other diseases.
Scientists are being hired at a faster clip at these emerging drugmakers and seeing their compensation rise more quickly than those in other technology sectors, according to Emsi Burning Glass, a job-market analytics firm.
But even as biotech expands, it has yet to bring women and people of color into top leadership roles in greater numbers, industry data show.
Biotechs are battling for talent as they staff up to meet growth projections dictated by a ready access to venture capital and the public markets. Executives are widening their search for workers, pitching them on the thrumming pace of innovation and a chance to work on novel medicines.
"I don't think there's ever been a better time to be in biotechnology," said Geoffrey von Maltzahn, a general partner at life-sciences venture investor Flagship Pioneering and co-founder and chief executive officer of Tessera Therapeutics Inc., a biotech startup.
From 2015 to the second quarter of 2021, job growth for U.S. biotech scientists rose 50% to 240,857, outpacing the rate of growth for scientists in telecommunications, e-commerce and the computer industry, according to Emsi Burning Glass.
Venture capitalists helped fuel the rise, investing $16.62 billion in U.S. biotechs in the first half of this year, putting 2021 on pace to beat the $20 billion of last year, according to Silicon Valley Bank.
From 2015 to 2020, the latest year Emsi Burning Glass has compensation data for, U.S. biotech scientists' average earnings -- salary, benefits and other compensation -- climbed 20.8% to $223,820.
It was the highest growth rate among seven sectors the firm analyzed, including the physical, engineering and non-biotech life sciences.
"There's not a good candidate we present an offer to who doesn't have multiple offers," said Ryan Pirnat, managing director and executive vice president of a specialty life sciences division of Beacon Hill Staffing Group.
Biotech CEOs say they try to attract workers chiefly on the strength of their firms' science and corporate culture.
One such effort is under way at Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc. and Dragonfly Therapeutics Inc., both based in Waltham, Mass. The two have taken the unusual step of raising venture capital in common stock instead of preferred, a share class that gives holders special rights and protections.
Putting employees, who hold common stock, on equal footing with venture backers signals that human capital is as valued as investor capital, said Bill Haney, co-founder and CEO of both companies." [1]
1. Biotech Hiring, Pay Soar Along With Investment
Gormley, Brian. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 24 Sep 2021: B.4.
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