Table I: Results overview: profile of a typical industry employee.
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Their hours, ranks, and pay scales may vary, but pharmaceutical employees agree on many of the best and worst aspects of their
jobs. Thanks to the nearly 1300 industry employees who participated in this year's survey, Pharmaceutical Technology highlights the issues directly affecting workers in the industry, including demographic information, education and work experience,
salary and benefits, and attitudes toward current employment. Some overall results are summarized in Table I. When reviewing
salary and benefits information, readers should take into account the range of experience, job functions, and educational
certifications represented. No one statistic should be used for comparison without taking these factors into account.
Demographics
Figure 1. Percentage of male and female respondents.
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Gender and age.
Of the total number of responses, 67% overall came from men (see Figure 1). The average respondent age is 44 years. These
values have remained relatively constant throughout the history of the survey.
Work location.
Approximately 85% of the survey responses were received from industry workers in the United States, including Puerto Rico.
Of these, approximately 14% work in New Jersey, 10% in Pennsylvania, and 9% in California; 6.5% each in New York, North Carolina,
and Massachusetts; and 5.8% in Illinois. All other states each accounted for 3% or less of the total US responses. Other world
regions represented less than 1% each of the total number of responses. Readers should take into account the number of responses
received from each region when noting the results of this survey, especially salary results according to US region.
Figure 2. Highest level of education
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Education and work experience.
Fifty-four percent of employees have a degree beyond a bachelor's degree (see Figure 2). The most common fields of study
were analytical chemistry (16%), biology or biology-related fields (12%), and pharmaceutics or pharmacy (12%). Nine percent
of respondents earned degrees in engineering or engineering management. And 11% said they had studied in a field unrelated
to pharmaceutical science or industry.
More than 72% of respondents said their experience prepared them very well for their current job functions, but only 34% said
the same for their educations. Pharmaceutical employees reported an average of 19 years of professional work experience, including
postdoctoral study.
Employment
Type of employer.
As in previous Pharmaceutical Technology employment surveys, a preponderance of respondents (88%) indicated that they work in private industry, with 36% working at
companies employing more than 10,000 people total. The percentage of respondents from academia or government was approximately
3% each. Therefore, the information provided in this article, including salary and attitudes toward current employment, best
represents those working in the private sector.
