In today’s job market, many individuals are changing career paths in search of a more meaningful and opportunistic career. One field that is seeing tremendous growth and a demand for qualified employees of all skill and education levels is biomanufacturing. As an example, in Massachusetts, employment in biomanufacturing has increased by 92% in the last 15 years, according to a recent Massachusetts Biotechnology Council report. In a recent industry snapshot, MassBio predicts that there will be 40,000 new jobs in biotechnology created over the next 10 years. To say that this market is in high demand for talent is an understatement. If you are thinking of making the jump over to biotech, here is what you need to know.
Concentration of Biomanufacturing Jobs
The biotech industry contains a diverse variety of jobs both inside the lab and out. These areas branch out from research scientists who engineer cells for specific proteins, to financial and legal professionals, to marketers and sales who promote a company’s end
products. Floor manufacturing techs make up the largest number of professionals within these companies. In the biomanufacturing facilities, one can find all levels of processing, upstream to downstream, all working together to ensure the cell lines needed for end products are properly generated, separated, and purified. Due to the vast number of processes within these overall areas, you will often see a large number of professionals each performing their specific role to contribute to the overall mission. These vast numbers of professionals often begin as associates, technicians, or operators in media prep, cell culture, buffer prep, or validation. While these jobs may have different titles at different companies producing different proteins of interest, the skill sets they build and develop are easily transferable throughout the industry.
The Importance of Having Knowledge of the Overall Process vs Specialized Skills
Each position in the biomanufacturing industry requires a fair amount of specialization. Each company requires its own unique processes, and each requires its own specific set of skills and knowledge. When trying to land a job at a specific company, this could seem intimidating, especially if you’ve never worked in biotech before. While specialized skills are part of the job, fortunately, in most cases you don’t need to possess those skills before entering.
Skill-building is Key
Since every company has its own specific processes, most companies will put all new hires through rigorous training programs. These programs are intended to train new employees on the specific skills needed to be successful in the organization. Therefore, your focus prior to entering the field should be acquiring a broad understanding of biomanufacturing. While this is especially important if you are looking to become a technician, it can be equally as important in helping you land a job in other facets of the business. If you are in sales or marketing, it’s imperative you familiarize yourself with the processes and terminology involved in the overall production of biopharmaceuticals. If you are a cost accountant and are looking to transfer your career into biomanufacturing, taking a course—for example, a non-specialist course such as Intro to Biomanufacturing Processing can give you an edge over your competitors. Continued professional development training will lay the foundation for you to better understand the language and processes as they relate to your job.
Capitalize on Training Programs to Expedite Your Entry into the Workforce
Everyone in the industry—those currently in biomanufacturing or looking to enter it—can greatly benefit from training programs. Most if not all companies expect it. Conveniently, there are a variety of quality online courses in biomanufacturing that allow you to build new skills on your schedule, allowing you to balance work with furthering your education. Learning the basic operations of bioreactors, centrifuges, filtration and purification systems, and other types of equipment used in the upstream and downstream biomanufacturing process can give you an advantage over others entering the field. The more generalized skills you possess, the less training your employer will need to provide you. This also reduces the cost to onboard you as an employee, making you a more attractive candidate.
Why You Should Consider Biomanufacturing Career Opportunities in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is currently exploding with new opportunities. With over 1,000 biotech companies calling Massachusetts home1, the state is solidifying itself as the hub of America’s biotech industry. The competition for jobs right now is extremely tight. Companies are doing everything in their power to recruit and retain highly skilled employees within their organization. It takes companies an average of three months to fill open positions. With the projected number of new jobs coming to the state, now is the best time to begin your training and transition into this rapidly growing industry and help not only yourself career-wise, but also benefit these companies—and the world as a whole—to ensure there is no stop in the current critical research and development.
Without the continuous support of biomanufacturing processes at all levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies would not have been able to provide the nation with expedited critical aid of vaccines. By having a trusted, skilled workforce, these companies were able to develop major breakthroughs to help combat the virus and save the lives of millions of people.
Now is the time to join this fast-growing industry and secure an exciting and promising future ahead. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)’s new Online Professional Development portal is now offering Introduction to Biomanufacturing. A self-paced, on-demand micro-course that’s fully online. Course content was filmed in our Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center (BETC) and combines voice-annotated slides with videos that show how certain equipment is used and operated. Students will gain a high-level understanding of key biomanufacturing processes.
Start learning. Keep learning. Learn on demand while staying in demand.
1 Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. MassBio. (2020, April 7). Retrieved March 8, 2022, from massbio.org