Nine of the 10 companies hired the highest numbers of employees in the
United States, but there was also significant hiring overseas, especially in
China and Europe.
Following is a list of 10 pharmaceutical giants, ranked by their numbers of
available jobs as posted on their corporate websites the week of June 17–21.
Companies are listed with their total numbers of jobs worldwide, total number
of jobs in the nation with the highest number, percentage of jobs accounted for
by the top nation, the next five (or in Eli Lilly’s case, four) nations with
jobs posted on the company’s website, and the percent of available jobs
accounted for by those nations.
The results show both the U.S.’ continuing dominance of the industry, since
nine of 10 companies hired the highest numbers of employees Stateside—as well
as significant hiring overseas, especially in China (which dominated Eli
Lilly’s listings of available jobs) and Europe.
Belgium was the top nation after the U.S. in listings posted by two pharma
giants, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals
unit. J&J numbers reflect Janssen job postings, since that unit specializes
in prescription drug development worldwide. Also placing among next-five
nations of most pharmas were three of Europe’s four biopharma powerhouses, the
U.K. (seven of 10 companies), France and Germany (five each). The fourth,
Switzerland, was a top-five hiring choice of just the two pharmas headquartered
in that nation, Novartis and Roche.
After China and Europe, several nations figure in a few companies’ job
postings: Canada and Mexico are among next-five countries of two companies, as
are Australia and Singapore. So too is the Netherlands. But the presence of
Poland and Ukraine indicate that Eastern Europe will have at least some future
in the hiring plans of biopharmas, as will the Middle East and Asia (India,
Taiwan).
The listings cannot say if companies truly plan to fill every one of those
hundreds and hundreds of listed positions; hiring plans are often as volatile
as the economy and drug discovery ups-and-downs. And some of the listed jobs
may have already been filled by the time you read this. But the job listings can
be viewed as a barometer of enduring big pharma health, at least in the
business areas still seen as pharma strengths, such as business development,
project engineering, technical services, and quality control—even as most of
the industry giants have laid off thousands of R&D and sales staffers in
recent years, while some are planning new rounds of workforce reductions.
#10. Bristol-Myers Squibb
|
368 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 318 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 86.4%
|
Next five countries: Ireland and United
Kingdom (12 jobs each); France (9)1; Belgium (7); Spain (5)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 12.2%
|
#9. Eli Lilly2
|
484 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: China, with 319 jobs listed on
website2
|
China % of available jobs: 65.9%
|
Next four countries2: U.S. (146
jobs); Canada (16); Australia (2); U.K. (1)
|
Next four countries % of available jobs: 34.1%
|
#8. AstraZeneca3
|
544 total worldwide jobs listed on website3
|
Top nation: U.S., with 259 jobs listed on
website3
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 47.6%
|
Next five countries: China (202 jobs); U.K.
(55)3; France (11); Turkey (8); Sweden (7)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 52.0%
|
#7. AbbVie
|
555 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 367 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 66.1%
|
Next five countries: Germany (68 jobs); China
(28); France (20); U.K. (16); The Netherlands (14)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 26.3%
|
#6. Johnson & Johnson / Janssen Pharmaceuticals
|
655 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 232 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 35.4%
|
Next five countries: Belgium (81 jobs); China
(63); The Netherlands (40); Mexico (30); France (26)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 36.6%
|
#5. GlaxoSmithKline
|
733 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 223 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 30.4%
|
Next five countries: Belgium (174 jobs); U.K.
(114); Singapore (55); Australia and Germany (33 each)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 55.8%
|
#4. Pfizer
|
815 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 332 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 40.7%
|
Next five countries: China (249 jobs); U.K.
(26); Mexico (18); Taiwan (17); Ukraine (16)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 40.0%
|
#3. Sanofi4
|
1,427 total worldwide jobs listed on website4
|
Top nation: U.S., with 744 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 52.1%
|
Next five countries: China (465 jobs); France
(68); Germany (51); Canada (45); U.K. (18)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 45.3%
|
#2. Roche
|
1,450 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 591 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 40.8%
|
Next five countries: Switzerland (240 jobs);
Germany (192); China (148); Poland and Singapore (40 each)
|
Next five countries % of available jobs: 45.5%
|
#1. Novartis
|
2,740 total worldwide jobs listed on website
|
Top nation: U.S., with 1,096 jobs listed on
website
|
U.S. % of available jobs: 40.0%
|
Next five countries: Switzerland (500 jobs);
Germany (224); U.K. (127); India (113); Austria (109)
|
Next five countries % of
available jobs: 39.2%
Notes:
1 For France, available jobs include two “European headquarters” positions based in Rueil-Malmaison, a suburb of Paris
2 Figures include three Lilly subsidiaries, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, ImClone, and Elanco (Animal Health). Chinese figure includes 307 jobs posted in Chinese and an additional 12 in English. Following China, only four additional countries had jobs posted on the company’s website
3 Figures combine jobs listed by AstraZeneca and its subsidiary MedImmune. Total worldwide jobs include 411 listed by AstraZeneca and 133 by MedImmune. U.S. jobs include 148 listed by AstraZeneca and 111 by MedImmune. U.K. figure includes 33 listed by AstraZeneca and 22 by MedImmune.
4 Includes combined figures for Sanofi, Sanofi-Aventis, Sanofi-Pasteur, Sanofi-Pasteur MSD, Genzyme, Merial, and Zentiva. Not all countries disclosed available jobs on websites, though all figures come from official websites of Sanofi and subsidiaries