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The number of wage and salary jobs in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing is expected to increase by about 23 percent over the 2002-12 period, compared with 16 percent for all industries combined. Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing ranks among the fastest growing manufacturing industries. Demand for this industry’s products is expected to remain strong. Even during fluctuating economic conditions, there will be a market for over-the-counter and prescription drugs, including the diagnostics used in hospitals, laboratories, and homes; the vaccines used routinely on infants and children; analgesics and other symptom-easing drugs; and antibiotics and “miracle” drugs for life-threatening diseases.
Although the use of drugs, particularly antibiotics and vaccines, has helped to eradicate or limit a number of deadly diseases, many others, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease, continue to elude cures. Ongoing research and the manufacture of new products to combat these diseases will continue to contribute to employment growth.
Because so many of the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry’s products are related to preventive or routine healthcare, rather than just illness, demand is expected to increase as the population expands. The growing number of older people who will require more healthcare services will further stimulate demand—along with the growth of both public and private health insurance programs, which increasingly cover the cost of drugs and medicines.
Another factor propelling demand is the increasing popularity of lifestyle drugs that treat symptoms of chronic non-life-threatening conditions resulting from aging, and can enhance one’s self-confidence or physical appearance. Other factors expected to increase the demand for drugs include greater personal income, the rising health consciousness and expectations of the general public, and a more industry-friendly regulatory environment that has streamlined the FDA approval process for “priority” drugs—those the FDA concludes are potentially life-saving treatments.
Despite the increasing demand for drugs, drug producers and buyers are expected to place more emphasis on cost-effectiveness, due to concerns about the cost of healthcare, including prescription drugs. Furthermore, innovative drug development measured by the number of industry applications submitted to the FDA has slowed dramatically, and the average time for the FDA to review “nonpriority” drug applications is becoming longer. Growing competition from the producers of generic drugs also may exert cost pressures on many firms in this industry, particularly as brand-name drug patents expire. These factors, combined with continuing improvements in manufacturing processes, are expected to result in slower employment growth over the 2002-12 period than occurred during the previous 10-year period.
Strong demand is anticipated for professional occupations—especially for the biological and medical scientists engaged in R&D, the backbone of the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry, and computer specialists such as systems analysts and computer support specialists. Strong demand also is projected for production occupations. Employment of office and administrative support workers is expected to grow more slowly than that of the industry as a whole, as companies streamline operations and increasingly rely on computers. In an effort to curb research and technological development costs, some companies have merged. As companies consolidate and grow in size, so do their marketing and sales departments. Despite substantial increases over the past decade, sales forces at pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing firms should continue to experience strong growth.
Unlike many other manufacturing industries, the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry is not highly sensitive to changes in economic conditions. Even during periods of high unemployment, work is likely to be relatively stable in this industry.
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