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Job Outlook
Healthcare in the United States has improved greatly over the past five decades, in large measure because of the advances in health research that have been supported by a myriad of federal agencies, industry, the private nonprofit sector, and research institutions. Diverse teams of scientists composed of basic scientists, physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other health professionals have been involved in research spanning a spectrum from fundamental biological discoveries about life processes, to behavioral and social research, to clinical and population-based studies, and to research on the organization, financing, and delivery of health care services.
Employment
Employment is expected to increase through 2016. The clinical research and pharmaceutical industries is projected to be one of the fastest growing careers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of wage and salary jobs in clinical research and pharmaceutical is expected to increase by 24 percent over the 2006-16 period, compared with the 11 percent projected for all industries combined. Demand for this industry’s products is expected to remain strong.
The use of drugs, particularly antibiotics and vaccines, has helped to eradicate or limit a number of deadly diseases, but many others, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease, continue to elude cures. Ongoing research and the manufacture of new products to combat these diseases will continue to contribute to employment growth. Demand also is expected to increase as the population expands because so many of the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry’s products are related to preventive or routine healthcare, rather than just illness. The growing number of older people, who will require more healthcare services, will further stimulate demand.
Strong demand is anticipated for professional occupations—especially for life and physical scientists engaged in R&D, the backbone of the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry. Much of the basic biological research done in recent years has resulted in new knowledge, including the successful identification of genes. Life and physical scientists will be needed to take this knowledge to the next stage, which is to understand how certain genes function so that gene therapies can be developed to treat diseases. Computer specialists such as systems analysts, biostatisticians, and computer support specialists also will be in demand as disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and electronics continue to converge and become more interdisciplinary, creating demand in rapidly emerging fields such as bioinformatics and nanotechnology.
Jobs
Job opportunities in most occupations should be good, particularly for those employees with science and engineering backgrounds. Unlike many other manufacturing industries, the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry is not highly sensitive to changes in economic conditions. Even during periods of high unemployment, work is likely to be relatively stable in this industry. Additional openings will arise from the need to replace workers who transfer to other industries, retire, or leave the workforce for other reasons.