How many new jobs will be created?

Today, U.S. biotechnology firms employ between an estimated 146,000 to more than 187,000 workers. By 2015, the industry may employ as many as 250,000 or more, particularly if the specialized research identified below takes off. The job multiplier is about 1.9 for biotechnology, meaning that almost two additional jobs result from every biotechnology job created. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that between 2002 and 2012, U.S. employment in the life sciences will grow by 18 percent. Employment is predicted to grow by 19 percent for biological scientists, 19 percent for biological technicians, and 23 percent for workers in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing.

The top five occupations projected to grow in California by the Labor Market Information Division, California Employment Development Department, from 2000-2010 are:

1. Bioinformatics Specialist (99 percent);
2. Scientific Programmer Analyst (59 percent);
3. Animal Technician (44 percent);
4. Microbiologist (41 percent); and
5. Assay Analyst (35 percent).

43,600 technicians with AA degrees are projected to be needed in 2010, an increase of 17 percent over 2000. An additional 8,100 technician-level positions could open up due to separations and internal promotions. These estimates may be conservative given other industry size estimates by independent groups such as the California Health Care Institute.

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