By Danielle O’Neill, Vice President, Global Solutions, KellyOCG
The life sciences industry continues to experience massive changes, but many workers feel insecure about their futures. According to the Kelly® 2025 Re:work report, 44% of surveyed life sciences workers are unsure if their current role supports their long-term career goals. This sentiment highlights a critical, often-overlooked factor: the people who move the sector forward.
Demand for skilled professionals continues to be significant. Vacancies increased by 64% leading into early 2026, following widespread layoffs last year. This change indicates an increasing focus on growth and opportunity — and while the talent supply in some areas has stabilized, many roles remain difficult to fill.
Emerging and hybrid skills present new challenges.
There is a looming talent shortage in many critical skills. Educational systems struggle to keep pace with the industry's rapid evolution. For new entrants and current workers, skill development and education shortfalls create a career-opportunity gap. The result is a booming industry with a workforce unsure of its future.
In my experience advising KellyOCG® life sciences clients, I have seen how overcoming this gap can yield a tremendous advantage in sustaining a competitive workforce. So, how are organizations doing just that? The answer is a combination of acquiring and cultivating talent for a resilient workforce and applying the right internal strategies to retain that talent.
Building a strong workforce isn't a one-time fix. It requires consistent investment and employer involvement to shape the external labor supply. At the same time, it also demands refinement of internal processes to secure the talent the organization needs.
Cultivate the external supply of skilled talent.
External talent development is both a social commitment and a business need. Companies are leveraging educational institutions, workforce solutions experts, and government entities to collectively strengthen the current workforce. Keys to success include:
- Education: Partner with education and training institutions to develop relevant curricula. Today, a learning program will likely need to be adjusted or replaced with some frequency as emerging technologies evolve.
- Internships: Fund internship programs that expose students to the realities of the field. This aspect of education remains essential, but it is also threatened by many work environments automating introductory skills with AI — limiting the demand for intern talent.
- Government support: Governments can play a vital role by providing funding for workforce development programs. Initiatives that make STEM education accessible at all levels, and policies that improve access to education, can help provide a steady stream of new talent to stay ahead of innovation.
- Refined talent acquisition: Develop customized talent acquisition strategies to find the right people for your needs. Carefully define every role, consistently update skills and requirements, and get creative when needed to adapt to a tight talent supply.
- Smarter, AI-driven technology: The technology ecosystem around talent acquisition must integrate and analyze data sets that are much larger than any human could review. And it must do more than provide dashboards and last quarter’s reporting: it must look ahead and deliver decisions, not data.
- Skills development: A robust skills development program should include a combination of self-service, always accessible digital learning with hands-on mentorships and movement among projects and teams. Without this aspect of work, skilled talent will soon start looking elsewhere.
- Career mobility: Organizations typically find that improving career mobility goes a long way toward retaining people. It also creates a pool of proven, loyal, quality talent for new roles. Internal career fairs, active and transparent marketing of new opportunities, and a culture where movement is encouraged take time to develop.
Grow talent internally through career and skills development.
Internal talent acquisition and development lean on the ability to acquire the right talent and then provide skills development and career mobility. Building a competitive workforce centers around several fundamentals:
The life sciences industry has the potential to revolutionize healthcare and improve countless lives. But this potential can only be achieved with a strong, well-equipped workforce. When industry, academia, and governments work together, the future for everyone in the life sciences sector benefits from a stronger, more resilient workforce.
