New York Times Job Market Survey on Pharmaceutical Industry Hiring Indicates Job Applicants with Non-Scientific Backgrounds Are Overlooking Job Opportunities

Business Wire, July 28, 2004

NEW YORK -- According to a New York Times Job Market national survey on recruitment in the pharmaceutical industry, only 7% of college students and 14% of young professionals are very likely to consider a job in the pharmaceutical industry because many students (65%) and young professionals (51%) assume they are not qualified for a job in that industry.

Harris Interactive, on behalf of New York Times Job Market, conducted a national online survey of 1,200 college students aged 18-25 and college-educated working professionals aged 22-30. The survey report was completed in May 2004.

"Many college students and young workers assume a background in science is required for a career in the pharmaceutical industry, which just isn't the case," said Brad Smith, director of Staffing and Diversity, Hoffman-La Roche, Inc. "In fact, there's great demand in our industry for talented people with backgrounds in marketing, sales and other non-scientific areas."

According to the survey, the most common reason cited by college students who felt that they would not qualify for a job in the pharmaceutical industry is that they did not have enough of a science background (65%). And the main reason cited by young professionals who are not interested in pursuing work in the pharmaceutical industry is that they are not interested in science or do not like science (47%).

College students with intentions to pursue careers in either science or research and development are most likely to feel they are qualified for a job in the pharmaceutical industry. Comparatively, college students intending to pursue careers in marketing and information technology are much less likely to consider themselves qualified for the pharmaceutical field.

Percentage of college students who believe they would qualify for a job in the pharmaceutical industry:

Future Career in Pharmaceutical Industry
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Science / Research & Development                                   64%
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Finance                                                            55%
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Marketing                                                          31%
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Information Technology                                             26%
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Criteria for Assessing Future Job Opportunities

When asked to rate the importance of various factors that they look for when pursuing employment, college students and young professionals cited job security, competitive salary, good healthcare benefits and the opportunity for training or learning new skills.

Criteria for Selecting Next Job                Students     Young
                                                        Professionals
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Job security                                        85%            91%
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Good healthcare benefits                            79%            87%
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Opportunity for training / learning new skills      77%            88%
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Competitive salary                                  74%            91%
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Congenial work environment                          68%            74%
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Flex-time                                           49%            61%
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Generous vacation time                              48%            72%
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Low-stress environment                              46%            53%
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Commitment to diversity                             45%            43%
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Tuition reimbursement                               41%            43%
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Mentoring programs                                  34%            34%
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According to the survey, students and young professionals believe that the pharmaceutical industry is among the best at providing job security and good healthcare benefits compared to other major employers in the New York metropolitan area.

Appeal of Pharmaceutical Industry              Students      Young
                                                         Professionals
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Job security                                        63%            57%
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Healthcare benefits                                 65%            75%
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