The BIO 2010 International Convention was kicked off this week in Chicago with the release of the BIO/Battelle State Biosciences Initiatives report. The report, which is issued every two years, indicates that total employment in the U.S. bioscience sector has exceeded 1.42 million, with another 6.5 million jobs indirectly supported by biotech.
The annual growth in the biotech sector registered a healthy 1.4 percent during the first year of the recession, despite a decline in total private sector employment of 0.7 percent. The BIO/Battelle report cites Bureau of Labor Statistics projections forecasting sustained annual growth of 1.5 percent in biotech through 2018.
Research, testing and medical labs added 11,670 jobs, a 2.1 percent increase, from 2007 to 2008. Medical devices and equipment added 10,140 jobs, a rise of 2.4 percent , for the same period; agricultural feedstock and chemicals added 5,021 jobs, a jump of 4.6 percent. Since 2001, more than 176,000 jobs have been added in the research, testing and medical lab sector, with total employment in the sector now topping 558,000.
According to the report, only the drugs and pharmaceuticals sector shed jobs, with a decrease of 7,445 positions from 2007 – 2008.
Average annual wages in the U.S. biotech sector were tallied at $77,595, compared to the $45,229 average for total private sector employment.
California once again reigned supreme in the BIO/Battelle report as the biotech employment leader, far outpacing the competition. The Golden State is home to 221,096 biotech workers, followed by New Jersey with 88,854, Pennsylvania with 80,929, Massachusetts with 72,627, and Texas with 64,964.
