Hiring Plans Show Promise for Biopharma Job Seekers: BioSpace Report
- Jan 29
- 1 min read
January 29, 2026 | Angela Gabriel
More biopharma organizations were actively recruiting at the end of 2025 than 2024, based on the new BioSpace employment outlook report. Areas in demand this year include research and development and clinical. Organizations are also prioritizing artificial intelligence hires.
Many biopharma organizations are looking to hire, and some even expect to expand their ranks, based on the newly released BioSpace 2026 U.S. Life Sciences Employment Outlook report. In a survey late last year of 136 professionals with insight into talent acquisition and/or workforce planning activities, 64% of respondents were actively recruiting, up from 59% in the 2024 survey. In addition, 41% predicted that in 2026, their number of open roles will increase, nearly matching the 42% that expected to add open positions in 2025.
Recruitment activity varied by company size, making larger businesses job seekers’ best bet right now. Just 37% of respondents with fewer than 50 employees were actively recruiting, compared to 100% of those with 500–999 employees, 83% of those with 1,000–4,999 and 57% of those with at least 5,000.
Those findings align with what BioSpace Recruitment Manager Greg Clouse has heard from his small to midsized clients.
“I have talked to people who plan on doing hiring this year, but it’s not like they’re rushing to do it all right away,” he said.
The increased year-over-year recruitment activity among survey respondents comes at a good time for biopharma job seekers, especially those recently laid off. In 2025, made or projected workforce cuts affected about 42,700 employees, a 47% jump from 2024.
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