NY/NJ market No. 4 in nation’s life sciences talent

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The New York/New Jersey market ranks No. 4 in the country in CBRE’s inaugural Life Sciences Talent Report, which identifies the top 25 life sciences labor markets nationwide and was released June 13.

New York/New Jersey had the most annual graduates in biological and biomedical sciences in the U.S., far surpassing No. 2 Los Angeles/Orange County by more than 2,000 degrees.

“The New York/New Jersey region boasts some of the best research talent in the nation, produced by renowned educational institutions,” said Joesph DeRosa of CBRE in New York in a statement. “We have more chemists in New York/New Jersey than any other market in the country, as well as one of the highest number of PhDs. Our region is well poised to provide the talent for companies entering and expanding in the market.”

CBRE found that colleges and universities in New York/New Jersey issued 9.8% of all biological and biomedical sciences PhDs, more than anywhere else in the country; and moreover, New York/New Jersey received $3.4 billion in National Institute of Health funding, the largest sum to any market in the U.S. last year.

Since 2001, job growth in the life science fields have gone gangbusters with a 79% increase, adding bioengineers, microbiologists, data scientists, and more to its ranks. The overall U.S. job growth rate in that span paled in comparison at just 8%.

The only markets to eclipse New York/New Jersey in size in CBRE’s report are Boston/Cambridge, Washington, D.C./Baltimore, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Along similar lines, New York’s Department of City Planning and its Economic Development Corp. released a “NYC Metro Life Sciences Report” June 2, exploring the depth and strength of the New York Metro life sciences market. The report identifies 5,060 life sciences businesses yielding at least 149,950 jobs in the area, which includes New Jersey. The region’s research and development sector grew by 40% over the last decade to 260 companies, and employment has increased at those companies by 8,000 people since the beginning of 2018.

Another area of growth within life sciences is in diagnostic testing labs, with 26% growth over the last 10 years to more than 800 in the New York Metro.

“With so many assets throughout New Jersey and across the region, it’s easy to see why the NYC Metro region continues to be a leading life sciences hub,” said BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart.

“From multinational biopharmaceutical organizations to early-stage startups bringing innovation and lifechanging cures and therapies to patients around the world, this ecosystem rivals any. In particular, more FDA approvals come from companies with a footprint in New Jersey than any place else in the world. Couple that with more than 30% of the country’s cell and gene therapy research and manufacturing and there is much to be proud of,” she said.

The report also noted that Philadelphia Metro’s life science workforce is 56,000 strong. Parts of New Jersey are included in that region as well.