Biotech Jobs Overview

Biotechnology jobs are instrumental in drug discovery, food and fiber crop improvement, environmental protection and the manufacture of biotech drugs, medical devices and other bioscience products. This growing industry offers exceptional pay and benefits, offering an increasing number of opportunities for people with backgrounds in biological science and technology.

Drug and medical equipment research, marketing and manufacturers offer a variety of biotech jobs, such as biological technicians, biochemists, regulatory compliance specialists, medical scientists and natural sciences managers.

Biotech Job Market

The United States leads the biotech market, with more than $60 billion in revenue; the global market is valued at about 360 billion in U.S. dollars. The biotech sector employs more than 100,000 people in the United States. The San Francisco Bay area has the highest concentration of biotech companies in the U.S. but biotech companies in Los Angeles and Orange County take in the highest biotech revenues.

Biotech stocks performed better than other markets in 2014 and more firms are entering the biotech industry. The federal government also provides funding for biotech. These profits and new opportunities create new jobs for people interested in discovering new or improving existing medicines, improving crops and investigating novel energy sources.

Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that between 2012 and 2022:

• Jobs for biological technicians will grow 10 percent
• Jobs for biochemists and biophysicists will grow 19 percent, which translates to only 5,400 jobs created over the decade because of the small size of employee pool in that industry.
• Jobs for microbiologists will grow 7 percent
• Jobs for medical scientists will grow 13 percent
• Jobs for natural sciences managers will grow 6 percent, mainly due to outsourcing

Biotech Salaries

Biotechnology salaries vary, depending largely on the level of education required. According to the BLS, the 2012 median salaries for some common biotech jobs were:

• Biological technician: $39,750
• Microbiologist: $66,260
• Medical scientist: $76,980
• Biochemist and biophysicist: $81,480
• Natural sciences manager: $115,730, among the highest in the biotech sector

Top Biotech Companies

Top biotech companies in the United States include:

• Johnson & Johnson
• Pfizer
• Merck
• Abbott Laboratories
• Amgen, U.S.