Contact: Megan Schulz | Megan.Schulz@massbioed.org | 617-674-5137

Expansion of career education and training in underserved communities can close the talent deficit of more than 10,000 workers.

June 1, 2022, CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation (MassBioEd) today released its 2022 Massachusetts Life Sciences Employment Outlook, a report produced in collaboration with TEConomy Partners that serves as a guide and resource for critical near- and long-term talent development efforts. Using quantitative analyses, the Outlook provides high-level context on industry employment trends, examines the current pipeline of life sciences talent, aligns demand and supply analyses for insights, and offers recommendations that will inform efforts undertaken by MassBioEd and its partners going forward.

The key findings and recommendations to be presented at MassBioEd’s 7^th Massachusetts Annual Life Sciences Workforce Conference on June 8, 2022, at Framingham State University include:

• The percentage of life sciences degree graduates who identify as Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino has remained stagnant over the past five years, with those who identify respectively as Black or African American at 6% and Hispanic or Latino at 9%.
• Over the last decade, Massachusetts’ life sciences industry has grown its employment base by 50% to exceed 121,000 jobs which includes biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing, medical device and equipment production, and the biomedical research workforce embedded within Massachusetts’ hospitals and the state’s colleges and universities.
• Talent deficits in Massachusetts will exceed 11,000 jobs over the next five years compared with the supply of new degree candidates.
• The industry represents a steady and reliable economic growth engine for Massachusetts. Despite challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, industry employment grew by 5.4% while the state’s private sector lost 6.5% of its employment base—a 11.9 percentage point performance differential.
• A 2022 analysis conducted by JLL, an international commercial real estate services company, is tracking 32.5 million square feet of Life Science construction across the state, with 17 million square feet of new construction already underway.
• Good Manufacturing Practice or “GMP” facility space makes up 2.5 million square feet of the total, demonstrating the need for local workforce development to meet the demand for increased production.
• Growth in degree graduates has slowed, only increasing by 3% over the 2018-2020 period. The 5% decrease among those earning doctoral degrees in life sciences since 2018 is another factor impacting the life sciences job pipeline.

“Massachusetts will experience a talent deficit, without candidates for as many as 11,000 good-paying jobs over the next five years as well as a decrease in the number of students earning college degrees,” said Sunny Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of MassBioEd. “This Outlook clearly demonstrates the importance of increasing and expanding both non-traditional training programs and the degree pipeline with new and diverse talent.”

The 2022 Conference will focus on strategies for education, recruitment, inclusion, retention, and promotion of an expanded and diverse talent pool required for a fast-growing post-Covid industry.  Presentations and programs will emphasize the need to raise awareness of careers at every level of the life sciences sector within BIPOC communities.

Event sponsors include Suffolk University Law School, Sanofi, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Collegium Pharmaceuticals, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, MassBio, Framingham State University, Halloran Consulting Group, Lendlease, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Northeastern University, Propel Careers, and RMG Associates. Find out more information about the event here.

Download the full report at MassBioEd.org/Labor-Market-Information.

About MassBioEd:

Our mission is to build a sustainable life sciences workforce in the region through educational programs that engage and excite teachers, inspire and propel students, and illuminate the pathway from the classroom to career with a focus on expansion, opportunity and diversity.

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