DES MOINES, Iowa, June 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioSpace, the leader in biopharma news and careers has today published it’s 2021 U.S. Life Sciences Salary Report.
The report demonstrates accelerating salary growth despite a year of challenges. Overall, life sciences’ professionals reported salaries increased by 5%. Annual salaries for full-time employees in 2021 averaged $128,689 up from $121,736 in 2020.
Life sciences was not immune to the pandemic but fared better than many industries. COVID-19 had a dampening effect on bonuses and was a leading cause of unemployment in 2020, with 43% of unemployed respondents citing the pandemic as the reason for their unemployment. Mandated company-wide pay decreases were also up 10% compared to the previous year.
However, though the struggles of COVID-19 were certainly felt, the life sciences industry has largely recovered, and recruiting has since intensified. Based on current trends, salaries are expected to grow more in 2021 than in recent years as companies compete for scarce talent.
As it has in previous years, the report sought to determine if there are inequities in pay between men and women. The report found that though men are still earning more than women, the Gender Gap has made significant progress and has decreased to 13% in 2021 from 19% in 2020. According to the survey, men average $133,374 while women average $118,056 in base pay. That is a 7.8% increase for women’s average pay since the 2020 survey.
For the first time, the 2021 report examined salary by race and ethnicity and discovered disparities between reported earnings between white, Asian, Hispanic and Black/African American life sciences professionals. In addition to the significant wage gaps between groups, underrepresentation of many of these segments across the biotech industry remains a key issue.
The full 2021 US Life Sciences Salary Report is accessible on BioSpace.com and includes salary comparisons by region, gender, race & ethnicity, disciplines, and titles.
About the Survey
BioSpace’s proprietary Salary Survey was conducted to explore life sciences professionals’ salaries and salary trends. The BioSpace Salary Survey was fielded from March 10, 2021 to March 26, 2021 and data was collected via a Web-based survey. The 2,052 respondents provided demographic information about themselves including job title, compensation such as annual salary and bonus, and indicate increase or decrease of salary trends.
View the full 2021 Salary Report here.
About BioSpace
BioSpace is the leading source for careers and news for life sciences professionals in the United States. 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 world.
Contact
Chantal Dresner
Marketing Director, BioSpace
chantal.dresner@biospace.com