What Matters Most to Life Sciences Professionals?

The opportunity to do interesting and meaningful work is more valuable than money. That’s the consensus of more than 2,400 life science professionals according the 2017 Ideal Employer survey. Nine of 10 professionals (91%) said the availability of interesting and meaningful work is an important attribute of the ideal employer, while eight in 10 professionals (83%) rated competitive salary as an important attribute.

Perhaps that is why Genentech, a San Francisco-based biotech company with a 40-year history, tops BioSpace’s 2017 Life Sciences Ideal Employer list. The company holds more than 11,000 patents and is currently on the cutting-edge of immunotherapy research and development. It pays competitive salaries and offers cash bonuses as well as long-term incentive. Genentech also gives employees up to six consecutive weeks off – with full pay and benefits – after six years of full-time employment.

In fact, Genentech ranks well on nearly every attribute valued by life sciences employees. Of the more than 1,100 global companies named by life sciences professionals, Genentech ranked #2 for good reputation, #3 for interesting and meaningful work and #4 (tie) for competitive salary.

Life science professionals’ strong desire to do interesting and meaningful work may also explain why Verily Life Sciences, a Google spinoff focused on the intersection of technology, data science and healthcare, is ranked #8 overall on the Ideal Employer list. The company was first founded in 2015, but is already at work creating miniature glucose monitors, smart contact lenses and advanced surgical robotics; it’s also tackling precision medicine. Verily is ranked #1 by life sciences professionals for both Interesting and Meaningful Work and Competitive Salary.

In some areas, significant gaps exist between the qualities professionals most desire in a workplace and the perceived strength of their Ideal Employers in those attributes. Seven of 10 (70%) surveyed professionals indicated manageable working hours was an important attribute, but only about four in 10 (44%) consider work/life balance a strength of their ideal employers. Similarly, three-quarters of those surveyed ranked opportunities for promotion as important, and nearly seven in 10 professionals (68%) said that solid training and development programs are important. Yet only 49% and 45%, respectively, of surveyed professionals consider those attributes strengths of life sciences employers.

Do men and women value different career attributes? We’ll answer that question – and more – in upcoming articles.

However, the most sought-after life sciences employers offer a better work environment than most people realize. Professionals who have worked at a particular company almost always rated the company more favorably in nearly every attribute than professionals who have not worked there. In reality, many life sciences companies have taken steps to responds to employees’ stated needs. Abbott and AbbVie #21 and #22 overall, respectively, tied for #2 for manageable working hours. Both offer childcare resources, paid time off to care for family, and health, fitness and recreational opportunities. Bristol-Myers-Squibb, #13 overall, is rated #1 in manageable working hours; it offers work-from-home options, paid extended leaves of absence and elder care resources, in addition to vacation packages that begin at three weeks per year and can extend to six weeks annually.

The fact that professionals still consider work/life balance hard to come by in the life sciences may have more to do with lingering, outdated perceptions than on-the-ground reality – and points to the need for companies to highlight and promote their efforts to support professionals’ personal and career goals.

Follow Ideal Employer news on BioSpace over the coming months as we dive deeper into this multi-faceted research and provide insights valuable to both professionals and hiring managers.

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