Life sciences:
Pharma
Despite growth in total employment, the US staffing market finished 2023 10% back on 2022 with a market size of $202 billion (the Staffing Industry Analysts). But this is still $48 billion larger than the pre-COVID market – and is anticipated to increase further this year. Becky Krage, partner at BioTalent, looks at the growing pharma and biotech sectors in 2024.
Here are the key areas leaders need to prepare for in 2024:
Engineering growing fastest – driven by automation, relocation and regulation.
Sectors up on pre-pandemic levels – the effects of developing technology and competition for talent.
Growth in 2024 – suggested by a surge in investment activity.
The engineering segment continued to grow in 2023 and is forecast to have the highest growth into 2024. The key drivers behind this growth are the adoption of automated processes, renewable energy, the shift in manufacturing from APAC back to the US and a lack of qualified engineering professionals, which has increased competition for talent.
Engineering staffing has also been fuelled by three bills passed by the US government: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, the CHIPS Act in 2022, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act in June 2023. All three bills allocate significant funding to boost domestic infrastructure and manufacturing.
The life sciences staffing market declined by 7% in 2023 but was still 20% above pre-COVID levels. It’s expected to grow by a further 5% in 2024 driven by advances in medical technology and a shortage of critical talent.
It was a similar story in the marketing and creative sectors, which declined by 10% last year but remained 15% above pre-COVID levels. This market is also expected to grow 5% in 2024 due to increased business confidence, digital transformation in marketing functions and a continued drive towards app-based marketing.
Although the drop off in retained search assignments suggests a cautious approach to hiring in 2024, the anticipated rise in contingent staffing shows that the work’s still there and the market remains positive.
Traditional modalities such as small molecule, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and lipids will be in demand as they are less expensive to manufacture. There was some investment into radiopharmaceuticals at the end of 2023 and we would expect this to continue this year. Oncology will also be a big focus into 2024. Therapeutic indications like cardiovascular and ophthalmology are gaining some traction in biotech, but other indications like neuro and muscle will remain prominent.
At the end of 2023, we started to see a few companies IPO and some mergers and acquisitions take place. Hopefully that’s a sign of better things to come for biotech in 2024.
Although many sectors across pharmaceuticals and biotechnology aren’t growing as they were a year or so ago, they still remain above pre-pandemic levels. Engineering is very much the area to watch in 2024 thanks to a perfect storm of technological, geographical, financial and regulatory factors. The amount of investment now taking place in pharma and biotech indicates a positive market ahead.
