The number of advertised biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector jobs fell slightly in the three job databases tracked by Nature Biotechnology (Tables 1 and 2) in the third quarter of 2013. Compared with the second quarter (Nat. Biotechnol. 31, 766, 2013), listings for the top 25 biotech companies dipped on Monster, LinkedIn and Naturejobs. Pharma company listings were mixed: Monster added 144 advertised positions across the top ten, and LinkedIn fell by 257 positions.

Table 1 Who's hiring? Advertised openings at the 25 largest biotech companies
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Table 2 Advertised job openings at the ten largest pharma companies
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Our list of biotech companies ranked by number of full-time employees has been updated: gone are fourth-ranked Genzyme (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi, based in Paris) and Dendreon (ranked 24th); the new additions are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, based in Tarrytown, New York, ranked 21st, and Hong Kong–based CK Life Sciences at 25th.

In July, Hamburg, Germany–based Evotec announced that instead of the relocation of its chemistry subsidiary Evotec India, planned for June 2014, it would cease operations at the facility, located in Thane, India, and transfer all Indian chemistry operations to its facility in Abingdon, UK. The company pointed to an increasing requirement to operate closer to the principal R&D laboratories of its major customers as well as some cost savings associated with the consolidation. Other notable third-quarter downsizings within the life-science industry are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Selected biotech and pharma downsizings
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