Job growth in the biosciences industry remains robust despite the recession, according to a recent study released by Battelle, a Columbus, OH-based non-profit, independent R&D organization, and Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), which represents 1,200 biotech companies, academic institutions, state biotech centers and related organizations in the U.S. and 30 other nations.

The report shows that during 2008, the recession’s first year, U.S. employment in the bioscience sector reached 1.42 million, a gain of 19,000 jobs for a 1.4% gain.  The uptick is fueled by research, testing, and medical laboratories. The subsector added more than 176,000 jobs between 2001 and 2008, accounting for 9 out of every 10 new bioscience jobs. Meanwhile, private sector employment declined by 0.7%. 

Bioscience sector news gets better:
• Average salary of bioscience jobs, $77,595 in 2008, was more than $32,000 higher than the average for private-sector jobs
• Financial performance of 649 public bioscience companies shows that even during a recession, the bioscience industry generates increased income across each subsector: devices and equipment, research, testing, labs, agricultural feedstock and chemicals, and drugs/pharmaceuticals.
• Thirty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, have an employment specialization (20% or more higher concentration than the other states) in at least one of the four subsectors: medical devices/equipment, drugs/pharmaceuticals, research, and testing and medical laboratories.
• Twelve states—California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas—have both a large (more than 5% of total U.S. employment) and specialized bioscience base in at least one of the bioscience subsectors.
• Of the nation’s 361 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 190 have an employment specialization in at least one of the four bioscience subsectors.

“States and regions are targeting the bioscience sector because it is a source of high-wage, high-skilled jobs,” says Mitchell Horowitz, vice president of Battelle’s Technology Partnership Practice.

Just how well is your state doing in targeting the bioscience sector? For answers, see the study’s individual state profiles.