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Investing in the Future: The U.S. Life Sciences Industry’s Workforce Pipeline

Aug 27
2 min read

Earlier this month, we highlighted a recent report from TEConomy Partners showing how the biopharmaceutical industry is driving historic job growth across the United States, with demand surging for technical and skills-based roles that do not require a four-year degree.

In today’s post, we take a look at how industry is co-investing directly in the workforce pipelines that will fill these roles, which are estimated to make up 42% of biopharma manufacturing employment. Industry investment into this pipeline has allowed for durable expansion of accessible, meaningful career opportunities for American workers across the country.


Leading life sciences companies are going well beyond breaking ground on new plants. They are partnering with community colleges, universities, and workforce boards to design, fund, and deliver training programs. These investments directly flow into higher job placement rates, wage gains, and pathways to full-time employment for a diverse array of participants.


The TEConomy report identifies several approaches that have emerged as best practices across the industry:


  • Apprenticeship programs: These programs serve as an opportunity for apprentices to gain academic credentials and hands-on work experience at the same time.

  • Co-locating training facilities and industry labs: Local partners set up training labs embedded within or near industry sites to expose learners to realistic equipment and work environments.

  • Stackable credentials and modular pathways: Flexible program structures meet workers where they are by allowing them to enter, exit, and re-enter education at different stages of their respective careers.

  • Regional and multi-employer consortia: By pooling resources and standardizing competencies across the industry, this approach raises the floor for training quality across the board.

  • Employer-aligned academic programs: Allowing employers to input directly into community college and university curricula ensures that learners are receiving accurate and useful training.


Through these approaches, the life sciences industry has demonstrated a strong commitment to American workers, providing impactful educational opportunities that prepare professionals for real-world work environments.

The report highlighted examples of programs across the country hosted by major pharmaceutical companies, including:



This is what it looks like when an industry acts as a genuine co-investor in America's economic future. But that momentum is not self-sustaining.


Keeping these workforce pipelines open requires the right policy environment: streamlined permitting that doesn't delay the facilities anchoring these programs, sustained funding for workforce training, and, critically, a regulatory and investment climate that keeps manufacturing activity flowing to the United States rather than abroad.


If policymakers undercut the conditions that make these investments possible — through short-sighted price controls or policies that weaken the incentive to build and expand here — these pipelines would dry up, and American workers would lose out.


To learn more about the life sciences industry’s investments in America and the policies that support them, visit our U.S. Investments webpage.

 
 
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