DES MOINES, Iowa, July 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioSpace Inc., the leader in life sciences news and careers, announced today that they have released the BioSpace 2020 Salary Report.
In the report, life sciences professionals reported an increase in their base salary at an overall growth rate of 4.6%, placing the average salary for the industry at $118,999. Some of the top reasons for an increased salary included:
- Merit-based raises (59%)
- Internal promotion (14%)
- Changed employers (13%)
Despite the overall increase in base salary, on average, men reported receiving 19.3% higher salaries than their female counterparts. This is an increase from BioSpace’s 2019 survey when men earned 16.8% higher salaries than women. This statistic is significant given the fact that females make up nearly half (45%) of the life, physical and social sciences industry, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“It’s encouraging to see the increase in salary across all sectors of the life sciences industry which reflects the increased demand for this talent,” shared Joshua Goodwin, CEO of BioSpace. “However, employers must do more to address the disparity in compensation by gender.”
The gender salary gap fluctuates by industry, discipline and region of the country. The Hotbed regions that reported the highest discrepancies by gender were Pharm Country, BioMidwest and Biotech Bay.
Another trend from this year’s report was the relation between company size and salary increases. On average, the smaller the company size, the higher the yearly salary increase was for respondents. Overall, respondents who worked for a company with fewer than 50 people saw an average increase of 7.4%. On the other hand, respondents who worked at a company with 1,000+ employees saw an average salary increase of 4.9%.
The Hotbeds with the highest average salary increase compared to 2019 were Biotech Bay and Biotech Beach, both located in California. Here is a glimpse of the Hotbeds that had the highest year/year average salary increase in 2020:
- Biotech Bay: 5.9%
- Biotech Beach: 5.7%
- Genetown: 5.5%
- BioMidwest: 5.4%
- Pharm Country: 4.9%
You can access the entire report here, which includes salary comparisons by Hotbed regions, gender, industries, disciplines, titles and therapeutic areas.
About the Survey
The BioSpace 2020 Salary Survey was conducted to explore life sciences professionals’ salaries and salary trends. The survey was fielded from March 9, 2020 to March 27, 2020 via a Web-based survey. The 2,190 respondents were asked to provide demographic information about themselves, job titles, compensation and indicate increases or decreases of salary trends.
To see all the insights and statistics from the 2020 BioSpace Salary Report, you can download the report here.
About BioSpace
Since 1985, BioSpace has provided essential insights, opportunities and tools to connect innovative life sciences organizations and talented professionals who advance health and quality of life across the globe. BioSpace continues to be the leading source for careers and news for life sciences professionals in the United States.
This survey was fielded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The data collected represents salaries early in 2020 and may not represent the current environment due to furloughs, salary cuts and layoffs.