Our study uncovered common themes in drug development executives’ perceptions of shortages related to diversity, skills, and roles. While executives were aware of the benefits of hiring and retaining a racially diverse workforce, most attributed the racial gap to a pipeline problem. The shortages related to racial diversity mirrored trends from other areas in STEM, showing a persistent gap in racial minority representation. Skillsets required to manage the growing needs around managing, analyzing, and making sense of data are in high demand as organizations become more sophisticated with the types and amount of data they collect to drive the drug development process. Our study found that all executives interviewed experienced some form of workforce shortage within their organization, function, or team. Lastly, the provided references include useful sources of information on the subject, such as studies on STEM workforce shortages and the underrepresentation of minorities in the tech industry.
Understanding Workforce Trends in Drug Development Industry
The drug development industry, which involves cross-disciplinary fields such as biology, engineering, data science, and statistics, is an area that demands a nuanced understanding of talent trends. This is because of the changing nature of talent trends in the industry. Some reports have suggested a shortage of STEM professionals, while others have refuted such claims, highlighting a surplus of talent. To contextualize this issue, the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD) conducted a study to investigate the state of the talent pipeline within drug development, with a focus on senior leaders’ perspectives.
Conflicting Reports on Workforce Shortages
There have been conflicting reports on workforce-related shortages in STEM fields. While some reports suggest a shortage, others refute those claims, highlighting a surplus of STEM professionals. This confusion necessitates contextualizing the shortage or surplus, which may help explain the conflicting trends. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report revealed a shortage in some occupations, such as nuclear and electrical engineering PhDs who are US citizens, while pointing to a surplus among Biology PhDs aiming for academic professorships.
Workforce Development Needs in the Pharmaceutical Industry
The drug development industry provides an excellent opportunity to understand talent trends, given its cross-disciplinary nature. Unfortunately, only a handful of studies have explored talent trends in the pharmaceutical workforce, with very few focused on labor patterns in the US. For instance, turnover rates remain high among FDA-regulated principal investigators, while the number of registered trials has grown. This trend, coupled with the increased complexity of protocol design, points to growing demands for experienced professionals who can manage and navigate the growing complexity and intricacies of clinical research.
Tufts CSDD Study on Talent Pipeline
To enhance the body of research on workforce trends in STEM, Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD) conducted a study to investigate the state of the talent pipeline within drug development from leadership’s perspective. The study aimed to explore perceptions among senior leaders to gauge their experience related to workforce trends in drug development. The results were broken down into four sub-categories:
Types of Workforce Shortage
The Tufts CSDD study found that senior leaders in drug development perceived a shortage of talent in certain areas, including clinical operations, regulatory affairs, and clinical data management. The shortage in clinical operations is due to the increasing number of clinical trials and the need for more experienced personnel to manage them. Meanwhile, the shortage in regulatory affairs is due to the increasing complexity of regulatory requirements and a shortage of personnel with expertise in the field. Finally, the shortage in clinical data management is due to the growing volume and complexity of clinical data, which requires skilled professionals to manage and analyze it.
Talent Retention and Development
Senior leaders also identified talent retention and development as a significant challenge in the drug development industry. They emphasized the need for competitive salaries and benefits, opportunities for career growth and development, and a supportive and flexible work environment to retain top talent. Additionally, they stressed the importance of investing in training and development programs to enhance employees’ skills and prepare them for future roles within the organization.
Recruitment Challenges
Recruitment challenges were also identified as a significant issue by senior leaders in the drug development industry. The leaders cited competition from other industries, a shortage of experienced personnel, and a lack of diversity in the talent pool as some of the main recruitment challenges. They suggested that organizations need to adopt new strategies to attract top talent, such as offering more flexible work arrangements, highlighting the organization’s mission and values, and investing in employer branding.
Emerging Trends
Finally, the Tufts CSDD study identified several emerging trends in the drug development industry that will impact workforce needs in the future. These trends include the increasing use of
Understanding Workforce Shortages in Drug Development Industry
The drug development industry faces four main types of workforce-related shortages, including diversity-related, experienced hires, role, and skill shortages. These shortages are affecting the industry’s ability to hire and retain talent, particularly in certain roles.
Diversity-related shortages are one of the types of workforce-related shortages that the drug development industry is facing. Although there has been an improvement in gender representation, the talent gap related to racial minorities, particularly Black professionals, is still present. One of the major drivers of this gap is the pipeline issue, stemming from not enough college graduates from diverse backgrounds pursuing STEM careers. Interestingly, some organizations noticed less representation for Native American and Hispanic/Latinx talent than Asian or Black professionals. However, Asian employees were well represented in some organizations, albeit many of them were international.
Shortages of Experienced Hires
The second type of workforce-related shortages is related to finding experienced hires at the management level and above. The baby boomer generation, those in their sixties and older, are retiring, leaving gaps that are difficult to fill. In some cases, inexperienced personnel have been rapidly promoted to fill these gaps, resulting in inflated titles that may not match the level of qualifications required for the senior leadership role. This phenomenon is making it difficult for smaller firms to compete for talent, given that smaller firms cannot match larger organizations that can provide the titles and the associated compensation and incentives.
Shortages of Specific Roles
Shortages related to specific roles have also emerged from the data. Some of the roles in short supply include clinical pharmacologists, data scientists, statisticians, project managers, and frontline clinical research associates (CRA), particularly in clinical operations. There is also a higher turnover among contract research organizations than sponsor organizations.
Conclusion
The drug development industry is facing a range of workforce-related shortages that are affecting its ability to hire and retain talent. These shortages are particularly pronounced for certain roles, such as experienced hires and specific roles like clinical pharmacologists, data scientists, and statisticians. Organizations need to invest in strategies to attract and retain talent, such as competitive salaries and benefits, opportunities for career growth and development, and a supportive and flexible work environment.
Understanding Skill Shortages in Drug Development Industry
The drug development industry is facing a shortage of skilled personnel with analytical and technical skills. Participants in a study noted that skills such as data engineering, data science, statistics, and math are increasingly difficult to find. The ability to analyze large quantities of data and communicate relevant findings to stakeholders is now a paramount skillset required in many roles within drug development. Finding candidates with both clinical research associate (CRA) and data skills has also become a challenge. A growing demand for people possessing a blend of data science and drug development expertise who can easily navigate the complexities of the drug development process is observed.
Big Data and AI are Transforming the Industry
Big data is changing every aspect of the drug development process, from discovery to commercialization. Early-stage products, currently in preclinical through Phase II, are being developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This fast-paced transition will require a large number of personnel with advanced engineering, data science, analytics, project management, and leadership skills. However, the pool of individuals with these skills has not kept up with the expanding number of new roles requiring them.
Drivers of Skill Shortages
The study categorized drivers of the skill shortages into external and internal factors.
External Factors
External factors include socio-contextual events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in an economic environment that led to increased consolidation of the pharmaceutical sector through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and increased public and private funding for all stages of the biopharma development process. Lack of awareness among students and young professionals about career opportunities in drug development, pipeline problems (referred to as a “talent drain”), the retirement of the baby boomer generation, and drastic cultural changes within the drug development industry are also considered external factors.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic and the economic environment that followed are a significant driver of the skill shortages. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of the drug development industry, resulting in increased funding for drug development and an acceleration of the M&A process. At the same time, the pandemic has led to a decline in the number of college graduates pursuing STEM careers, further exacerbating the skill shortages.
Conclusion
The drug development industry is facing a shortage of skilled personnel with analytical and technical skills, driven by a combination of external and internal factors. The industry needs to invest in strategies to attract and retain talent, such as offering competitive salaries and benefits, providing opportunities for career growth and development, and creating a supportive and flexible work environment. Additionally, it is necessary to increase awareness among students and young professionals about career opportunities in drug development and to address the pipeline problems by encouraging a more diverse pool of talent to pursue STEM careers.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a significant labor shortage in the biopharmaceutical industry. Participants reported that many employees left their jobs due to burnout and illness, and vendors were hit especially hard, which was then passed on to sponsors. The global nature of biopharmaceutical development, which requires teams to work across time zones, also added to the strain. Turnover rates in the industry, which were already high, increased further due to the pandemic, and remote work normalized by the pandemic increased job mobility for skilled workers in STEM fields. However, in cases where remote work was not possible, such as biopharmaceutical manufacturing and on-site clinical operations, turnover remained high due to low salaries and/or low levels of flexibility. The pandemic also had significant implications for recruitment of STEM PhD students, as many had to pause their research and dissertations, and the closing of schools led to an increase in homeschooling and other caretaking responsibilities that delayed the completion of PhD studies. These factors contributed to what participants referred to as a “talent drain.”
The Talent Drain and its Impact on STEM Workforce Shortages
Lack of Awareness and Barriers for Students
Participants in the study highlighted that a lack of awareness of the biopharmaceutical industry among college students was a missed opportunity to encourage young talent to pursue careers in drug development. Moreover, there are perceived barriers for many students to pursue advanced STEM degrees, creating a gap in the pipeline early on. Participants noted that graduate students in the United States are often underpaid, which hinders students from pursuing advanced degrees in STEM, especially in high cost of living cities. Additionally, barriers related to retaining international talent were cited repeatedly as a major driver of the “talent drain,” with companies struggling to hire and retain top international STEM talent who complete their graduate education in the US.
Internal Factors
The data also highlighted internal drivers of STEM workforce shortages, including lack of professional development, outdated HR practices, and systemic racial and gender bias among hiring managers. Challenges related to professional development revolved around lack of training opportunities that would equip professionals with skills in leadership, technology/data science, and life science. Participants shared that their companies lacked dedicated resources to train individuals, and many of the training programs were either ad-hoc or insufficient.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The pandemic had a significant impact on the biopharmaceutical industry, exacerbating pre-existing talent shortages. Burnout and illness led to a high volume of staff loss among sponsors and vendors, who struggled to recruit skilled workers. While normalizing remote work increased job mobility for individuals with STEM backgrounds, it led to high turnover rates, especially in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and on-site clinical operations. The closing of elementary schools and high schools also delayed completion of PhD studies, reducing the pool of candidates available to the biopharmaceutical industry.
Conclusion
The talent drain, lack of awareness among students, and barriers to retaining international talent are the major contributors to STEM workforce shortages in the biopharmaceutical industry. However, addressing internal factors such as lack of professional development and outdated HR practices can help retain and train existing talent. Additionally, taking steps to encourage and support students pursuing STEM degrees can help bridge the gap in the pipeline.
Strategies to Combat Workforce Shortages
The STEM workforce shortage has had a significant impact on the biopharmaceutical industry. To combat this issue, participants offered several strategies that can help recruit and retain talent, including creating awareness of the biopharmaceutical industry among college students, encouraging diversity and inclusion, providing professional development opportunities, and being flexible in talent development.
Creating Awareness
Participants noted that college students often lack awareness of the biopharmaceutical industry, its mission, and its workings. They suggest that the industry can encourage more young talent to pursue careers in drug development by promoting awareness of the industry and its job opportunities.
Diversity and Inclusion
Participants emphasized the importance of diversity and inclusion in the industry. They recommend that companies create a culture that supports diversity and inclusivity to attract and retain a diverse range of talent. This can involve implementing policies and programs that support diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as unconscious bias training and mentorship programs.
Professional Development
Participants highlighted the importance of providing professional development opportunities to attract and retain talent. They suggest that organizations should invest in training programs that equip professionals with skills in leadership, technology, data science, and life science. Participants recommended that training programs should be tailored to meet the needs of employees and their skillsets, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Flexibility in Talent Development
Participants recommend that companies should be more flexible in talent development. They suggest that companies should provide opportunities to broaden employees’ experiences and leadership capabilities within the company. They emphasize that not all technical experts want to become managers and may not be suited for managerial positions, and a flexible approach to talent development can help retain employees and improve their job satisfaction.
Other Strategies
Participants also recommended other strategies to combat workforce shortages, such as providing better compensation packages and offering work-life balance initiatives, including remote work opportunities.
Conclusion
The biopharmaceutical industry is facing a STEM workforce shortage, which has significant impacts on employees and the organization. Strategies such as creating awareness of the industry among college students, providing professional development opportunities, and being flexible in talent development can help recruit and retain talent. Encouraging diversity and inclusion, providing better compensation packages, and offering work-life balance initiatives are other strategies that can combat workforce shortages.
The drug development industry is facing talent shortages due to a variety of internal and external factors. In this study, executives from across the industry were interviewed to uncover trends related to the talent pipeline, diversity, skills, and roles. Among the most commonly cited challenges were the impact of the pandemic, the need for more flexible HR practices, and the impact of the shortage on both employees and organizations.
The Impact of the Shortage
The talent shortage has had a significant impact on both employees and organizations. Employees who possess skills that are in high demand are often pulled into different projects, which results in burnout and frustration. Those who lack the necessary skills feel left behind and frustrated by the ever-increasing pace of change. Organizational areas impacted by the shortage range from stifled innovation to budgetary strains. The shortage has led to stalled innovation and increased training costs for new hires. Moreover, high levels of investment are required to retrain existing staff and develop their leadership skills to prepare them for leadership roles. The shortage has put a strain on company budgets, specifically driving up the need for funds to hire external consultants to meet the staffing shortage, contributing to the increase in development costs.
Strategies to Combat Workforce Shortages
To combat workforce shortages, participants shared several strategies they are using to address the gaps related to attracting, developing, and retaining the talent pipeline. Organizations are investing in creating internships to provide paths for potential candidates to seek careers in drug development. The majority of those interviewed emphasized the need to invest in training, including on-the-job, hands-on training, upskill training, and training to give professionals exposure to different functional areas to encourage lateral moves across functions within the industry. The need for leadership development programs to train scientists to become better managers and leaders was also highlighted. By investing in these strategies, companies can increase the size of their candidate pool and provide opportunities for employees to grow and develop their skills.
Diversity and the Talent Pipeline
The study also revealed persistent gaps in racial minority representation in the drug development industry. While executives were aware of the benefits of hiring and retaining a racially diverse workforce, most attributed the racial gap to a pipeline problem. The most cited driver of this racial disparity was lack of available candidates in the hiring pool, which has been critiqued and countered. The challenge is not that diverse candidates do not exist, but that they are not present in existing candidate pools, highlighting the need to invest more time to expand the talent pool to search for them.
Conclusion
The talent shortage in the drug development industry is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach to address. Investing in strategies to attract, develop, and retain the talent pipeline, increasing diversity in the industry, and creating more flexible HR practices are among the key solutions to the problem. By taking these steps, companies can not only address the talent shortage but also foster a more innovative and diverse industry.
Study on STEM Talent Shortages in the Drug Development Industry
Overview
A recent study conducted by two authors sheds light on the specific talent trends and workforce shortages in the drug development industry. The study consisted of 10 semi-structured interviews with executives from various areas within drug development. The authors used a thematic approach for coding and analysis, and the results are presented below.
Workforce Shortages
All 10 executives interviewed confirmed that they experienced some form of workforce shortage within their organization, function, or team. The study identified two main categories of shortages: internal factors and external factors.
Internal Factors
The data revealed that the internal drivers of STEM workforce shortages were the lack of professional development in companies to develop, train, and retain their talent; outdated Human Resource practices that do not keep up with current needs; and systemic racial and gender bias among hiring managers. Many participants cited the need for more training opportunities that would equip professionals with skills in leadership, technology/data science, and life science. There was also a need for leadership development programs to train scientists to become better managers and leaders.
External Factors
The external factors driving the STEM workforce shortage were the lack of awareness of the biopharmaceutical industry among college students, barriers for many students to pursue advanced STEM degrees, and difficulties in retaining international talent. Barriers related to retaining international talent were cited repeatedly as an external factor in STEM shortages and a major driver of the “talent drain.” Companies and their leaders are struggling to hire and retain top international STEM talent who complete their graduate education in the US.
Impact of Shortages
The STEM shortage has had an impact on many aspects of the drug development process, which fell into two main categories: impact on employees and impact on the organization. The shortage has led to stalled innovation due to extended timelines to accommodate staffing shortages. This has been linked to a reduction in the speed of development for targeted therapies, as well as the obstruction of opportunities to develop medicines faster. Additionally, the shortage has increased the training costs for new hires and put a strain on company budgets.
Strategies to Combat Workforce Shortages
Participants shared a few strategies they are using to address the gaps, including increasing candidates in their selection pool by targeting college and graduate students, creating internships to provide paths for potential candidates to seek careers in drug development, investing in training, and developing leadership development programs.
Conclusion
The study highlights the need for more investment to fill the pipeline, develop and train employees, accommodate flexible work arrangements, and raise awareness among college graduates and young professionals about career opportunities in drug development.
Here are the references used in the study on workforce shortages in the drug development industry, conducted by Jennifer Kim, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, and Maria Florez, MA, Senior Analyst and Research Consultant at the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.
References:
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Policy OAI. Industrial Capabilities: Report to Congress.; 2020.
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Hira R. Is there really a STEM workforce shortage? Published 2022. Accessed December 21, 2022. https://issues.org/stem-workforce-shortage-data-hira/
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Catalyst. Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Quick take. Published 2019. Accessed March 14, 2020. https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem/
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Yi X, Richard C. L. STEM crisis or STEM surplus? Yes and yes. Monthly labor review. Published 2015. Accessed December 21, 2022. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/stem-crisis-or-stem-surplus-yes-and-yes.htm
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Bates I, Patel D, Chan AHY, et al. A comparative analysis of pharmaceutical workforce development needs across the commonwealth. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 2023;19(1):167-179. doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.07.010
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Mukhalalati BA, Ibrahim MMME, Al Alawneh MO, Awaisu A, Bates I, Bader L. National assessment of pharmaceutical workforce and education using the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s global development goals: a case study of Qatar. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. 2021;14(1):1-18. doi:10.1186/s40545-021-00305-y
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Getz KA. Tracking change in the global investigative site landscape. Applied Clinical Trials. 2021;30(12).
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Getz KA, Campo RA, Kaitin KI. Variability in protocol design complexity by phase and therapeutic area. Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science. 2011;45(4):413-420. doi:10.1177/009286151104500403
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Glaser BG, Strauss AL. Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Routledge; 2017.
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Kossek EE, Dumas TL, Piszczek MM, Allen TD. Pushing the boundaries: A qualitative study of how stem women adapted to disrupted work–nonwork boundaries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2021;106(11):1615-1629. doi:10.1037/apl0000982
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McDonald, Autumn. The racism of the “hard-to-find” qualified Black candidate trope. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Published 2021. Accessed January 12, 2023. [https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_racism_of_the_hard_to_find_qualified_black_candidate_trope](https://ssir.org/articles/entry/theracismofthehardtofindqualifiedblack_candidate
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Weise and Guynn’s article “Black and Hispanic computer scientists have degrees from top universities, but don’t get hired in tech” discusses the challenges faced by Black and Hispanic computer scientists in the tech industry.
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Roberts and Mayo’s article “Toward a racially just workplace” explores strategies for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
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