PhDs Can't Find Work as Boston's Biotech Engine Sputters (msn.com) 44
The Wall Street Journal reports that Boston's once-booming biotech sector has hit a sharp downturn, leaving newly minted Ph.D.s struggling to find work as venture funding dries up, lab space sits empty, and companies downsize or relocate amid rising costs and policy uncertainty. The Wall Street Journal reports: Boston's biotech sector, long a vital economic engine for one of America's wealthiest metro areas, is sputtering. A double whammy of cutbacks in venture capital and government funding have taken a toll, leading to layoffs and struggles for job seekers. For workers who thought they would easily launch into a well-paying science career, the downturn has been especially harsh.
Massachusetts experienced a slight decline in its roughly 65,000 biotech research-and-development jobs in 2024 after years of mostly strong increases, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to federal data. The numbers indicate that job losses continued through at least June, while hiring remains sluggish. By the end of September, nearly 28% of greater Boston's laboratory space sat empty, according to the latest estimates from real-estate firm CBRE. "Every stage of the life cycle has been impacted by policy or regulatory uncertainty this year," said Kendalle Burlin O'Connell, chief executive of MassBio, an industry trade group. The impact has hit startups especially hard, she said.
A continued downturn poses risks for a region where workers will put up with sky-high real-estate costs if they can land high-paying jobs. Massachusetts faces competition from other states and China, which are eager to peel away talent and investment. "There are states and countries chasing us every single day," Gov. Maura Healey said in an interview. In late October, the Democrat testified before the Massachusetts legislature in support of a $400 million "competitiveness agenda" that she is seeking to spur new investment and supplement research funding lost this year. Lawmakers are reviewing the bill, a House spokesman said.
Massachusetts experienced a slight decline in its roughly 65,000 biotech research-and-development jobs in 2024 after years of mostly strong increases, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to federal data. The numbers indicate that job losses continued through at least June, while hiring remains sluggish. By the end of September, nearly 28% of greater Boston's laboratory space sat empty, according to the latest estimates from real-estate firm CBRE. "Every stage of the life cycle has been impacted by policy or regulatory uncertainty this year," said Kendalle Burlin O'Connell, chief executive of MassBio, an industry trade group. The impact has hit startups especially hard, she said.
A continued downturn poses risks for a region where workers will put up with sky-high real-estate costs if they can land high-paying jobs. Massachusetts faces competition from other states and China, which are eager to peel away talent and investment. "There are states and countries chasing us every single day," Gov. Maura Healey said in an interview. In late October, the Democrat testified before the Massachusetts legislature in support of a $400 million "competitiveness agenda" that she is seeking to spur new investment and supplement research funding lost this year. Lawmakers are reviewing the bill, a House spokesman said.
Hey! This is great news! (Score:4, Insightful)
For sickness and diseases. Excellent governance! Let's kill scientific research, hand away the future, and get more of us killed.
Re:Hey! This is great news! (Score:5, Funny)
But why do you need to spend money on "research" when you can pray for free?
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Indulgences, like the rest of the practices of the catholic sect, are a heresy. Remember, Jeebus threw all the merchants, including the afterlife insurance salesmen, out of the temple.
Hot, fervent hail marys, on the other hand, backed by a firm belief will work miracles, Allah willing.
Re: Hey! This is great news! (Score:3)
That was Muhammad, and the only reason it is disliked among some sects is that it wasn't with an altar boy.
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Putting aside that it's Mohammad and not Allah... But he loved her so much he waited until she was nine.
It's the religion of peace! And child rape.
Wait, another one?
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NIH still issues ~$39B a year in grants, and spends ~$5B a year on its own ~6k scientists and their projects.
Total biotech grants are double and some change that.
The downturn is real, but it's very minor. Being a new graduate in any downturn sucks.
That being said, we're still far on top of the world in biotech research spending.
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Do you understand about the need for government services like homeless shelters, sewers, water treatment, and all of the rest? All of these things cost money, and while those in rural areas don't seem to care about homeless people(they can just go off into the woods to die), those who live in and around cities certainly understand the need for government services. Then, you also have the schools. When you have 1500 students going to one school, that means the buildings and maintenance are going to cos
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Do you understand that it is possible for it to provide too many services, or to do so inefficiently, corruptly or in some other way badly? Do you understand that it is possible to want more services from government than you can afford to fund? Do you understand that it is possible to raise taxes so high that people run away from them? Do you understand that government can expand to the point where it crowds out everythi
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The cuts are practically irrelevant and highly targeted toward political opponents.
Right or wrong, that's in the eye of the beholder, but trying to dress that pork up in a dress and call it some kind of self-defensive systemic reaction is a complete fabrication.
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This is the sacrifice USA is willing to make to bring the manufacturing jobs back! /s
China? (Score:2, Insightful)
China is recruiting biotech talent from the US? Like they're saying go work in China and save up money? I wouldn't recommend anyone do it unless the offer was so great that you'd have enough money to outright buy a US home at the end of it. As in, be able to save like $700k within 7 years (which in 7 years should get you a "todays" $500k home in the US). That means you'd have to get paid around like $180k (after China taxes if they make you pay that). I blindly assume China comfortable expat living expenses
Re: China? (Score:2)
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If the downturn continues, you will be able to. Provided the Fed does not increase money supply one more time, in the name of QE, to keep real estate prices sky high.
A continued downturn poses risks for a region where workers will put up with sky-high real-estate costs if they can land high-paying jobs.
That means people working very hard in life, earning PhDs, to land high-paying jobs are forking a huge chunk of that pay to the rent seeking real-estate owners. High real-estate prices are a barrier to growth. If a large chunk of the cost to setup a business, directly and indirectly, goes towards real estate, businesses and people will try to m
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I could swear JFK had something to say about that.
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China's universities output 10x number of BS,MS and PhDs over USA. The quality may be lesser but already closing in and given assumes normal distribution of talent, they would be well off. Why would they want to 'import' any?
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What China offers researchers isn’t big salaries. It’s research funding and the ability to just actually do R&D work instead of sitting at a desk writing grant applications. And China fast tracks human drug trials so researchers don’t have to spin their wheels waiting for approval to start testing. That said, Chinese universities and biotech companies do pay well by Chinese standards, so living well in modern city, unlike America’s crumbling disasters, is just a bonus.
Human Derived Protein (Score:2)
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Ah, human protein, the cornerstone of every nutritious breakfast! What kind of protein?
let them emigrate (Score:2)
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That matters less today with all the translation software we've got than it ever has before. And if the tech behind that stuff collapses then PhDs will be farming like the rest of us and they won't need to communicate complex ideas. If they see something bad happening to plants they can get a plant scientist's attention, point, and grunt.
Boston's politics (Score:2, Interesting)
Might have something to do with companies relocating.
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Atlanta, in the boonies with all the reactionary fuckwits, has a booming biotech sector.
Local politics matters. And you might be backwards on who exactly is destroying rational government.
The map don't lie (Score:3)
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When they came for the coal miners, no one cared (Score:2)
nonsense (Score:2)
Fake news. Biotech jobs in Boston only decreased slightly. Article is just a few anecdotes. No information about the rest of the country, or the ratio of seekers to openings.
Wrong coast for innovation (Score:2)
Biotech is alive and well in the SF Bay Area
Oh the humanity. (Score:1)
Nah.