June 3, 2025

Zeninjor Enwemeka

Even though the growth of Massachusetts’ life sciences industry has slowed down and faces looming federal funding challenges, the sector is still expected to add thousands of jobs over the next decade, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation (MassBioEd).

In the long run, the report found the sector is expected to grow by 11.6% in the state — adding 16,633 net new jobs by 2029. To put that in perspective, the Massachusetts economy overall is only expected to grow by 3.4% by 2029, according to the report.

This bright spot comes amid an overall slowdown in life sciences jobs in Massachusetts after years of steady growth in the industry. The sector saw only 0.03% growth in 2024 compared to the previous year,  the MassBioEd report found. The report also showed job postings have decreased since 2022. The state’s life sciences sector had grown at an average rate of 6.7% from 2013 to 2023, with a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic’s record investments and venture capital money. But over the last few years, the industry has seen declines in funding and layoffs. There are currently about 143,000 workers in the state’s life sciences sector, according to MassBioEd CEO Sunny Schwartz.

“ Despite the fact that there are a lot of headlines about layoffs in the industry, the workforce hasn’t shrunk,” Schwartz explained. “So, that means while there have been layoffs in some big companies, a lot of other companies are hiring.”

The life sciences sector has grown roughly three times more than the rest of the state’s private sector since 2022, according to the report. And employment in life sciences has been almost four times higher in Massachusetts than in the U.S. during the same time period.

The forecast for the state’s life sciences sector comes as the industry is navigating uncertainty due to the Trump administration’s policies. Last month, MassBio — the industry association for the state’s life sciences companies — warned that cuts to National Institutes of Health funding, staff reductions at the federal Food and Drug Administration and tariffs could threaten jobs, disrupt supply chains and increase health system costs. MassBio’s report found the Trump administration’s policies could also hamper patient access to therapies, discourage venture capital funding in the sector and diminish the country’s global leadership in life sciences.

Massachusetts is the largest recipient of NIH funding per capita, which greatly supports scientific research at colleges and universities. That academic ecosystem is a critical part of the talent pipeline for the life sciences industry, according to Schwartz.

“ What we’re worried about is a potential brain drain.” Schwartz said. “If you stop funding academic research, then those folks could go somewhere else — to another country. And that’s what we wanna try to avoid.”

Companies have already been struggling to find enough workers for high-skill jobs, according to Schwartz. Scientists, engineers, managers, and computing and information technology professionals are projected to be the most in demand workers in the industry over the next decade. Schwartz said the industry needs to continue to train people internally on newer technologies, while also maintaining partnerships with educational institutions, so students can learn skills that will be needed in the future.

While high-skill workers are in demand, the industry also needs people with different education levels, Schwartz noted. She said over 14% of jobs in life sciences are accessible without a college degree.

“I think there’s this stereotype that you have to have a PhD to work in this industry, and that’s just not true,” Schwartz added.

Read the article on WBUR.