Split Opinions on Training Strategies

Group of participants engaging in interactive business seminar, with one individual raising hand while seated and another person presenting in background with laptop | Image Credit: © Seventyfour - stock.adobe.com

Since 2021, Pharmaceutical Technology®’s annual survey of employment trends in the bio/pharma industry has been conducted within the prism of the COVID-19 pandemic (1–4).

But now, with the shadow of the outbreak nearly five years into the past, the 2025 survey looks forward into the second half of the decade (5).

This year’s survey reveals more than half of workers feel that adequate time to complete projects is an important factor contributing to their job satisfaction (Figure 1) (5).

Figure 1: Contributing factors to job satisfaction. | Image Credit: © Pharmaceutical Technology

But that has left these employees wondering if they or their colleagues are getting the proper instruction on how to do, and continue to evolve in, their jobs. Workers are even more fractured and uncertain as to how that guidance should be communicated.

The hunt for more knowledge, on and about the job

Pharmaceutical Technology® asked 166 people in the industry, 142 of whom responded at least in part, questions relating to job satisfaction, with a rating scale of 1 to 5—1 being the least satisfying and 5 being the most. A clear majority of respondents gave a rating of either 4 or 5 to “intellectual stimulation” (82.26%) and “challenging projects” (80.65%) being the main drivers of job satisfaction (Figure 1).

Yet considerably fewer respondents, only about three out of every five (62.10%), gave just as high marks when asked if they were being provided adequate resources and/or infrastructure for their required tasks. While less than 10% admitted their managers were unsupportive in ensuring job satisfaction, less than half (46.77%) also felt the training and career development they are currently receiving were key contributors to that same satisfaction (Figure 1).

When asked whether their place of employment gave them sufficient training tailored to their specific roles, employees who said such training was lacking (51.22%) slightly outpaced those who said they were receiving an adequate amount (48.78%).

And in how these workers viewed the training of those new to their companies, less than half of those polled (45.53%) felt that new employees had an appropriate knowledge base upon entering the workforce.

More than half (51.22%) in the survey said they thought online training modules would be very useful in their work in a general sense, with just about one in eight (12.20%) saying these trainings were unhelpful and that they preferred in-person sessions or workshops only (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Usefulness of online training modules. | Image Credit: © Pharmaceutical Technology

Given more specific choices within that question, two responses were selected by an equal percentage (17.89%): that online training was only useful for new recruits, or was only useful when new techniques, regulations, or technologies are being implemented. Only one respondent to this question picked a fifth option, which was that online training is useful only when seeking a new role (Figure 2).

Money takes a back seat

Salary did not appear to be a chief concern in this year’s survey. One-fifth (20.16%) of respondents said they were not satisfied with their current wages, but more than half (55.65%) reported their pay increased at least slightly over a year ago, with just about one in eight (12.10%) suffering a pay cut.

Still, approximately seven out of every eight employees polled (87.10%) did rate “high salary” either a 3, 4, or 5 when it came to impact on job satisfaction, with slightly fewer (80.49%) giving the same weight to “good benefits” (Figure 1).

Contentment, but not perfection

While a solid majority of people were at least unequivocal, if not strongly feeling, that they either would not like (73.77%) or do not expect (73.17%) to leave their jobs imminently, just over a quarter (27.64%) felt there was opportunity for career advancement in their current positions (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Change of career/role in the near future. | Image Credit: © Pharmaceutical Technology

Less than 10% of respondents said they were not satisfied overall in their current jobs, and more than 7 in 10 feel they are at least as secure, if not more, in their positions than they were a year ago. Nearly as many (69.67%) said they would not like to change careers anytime soon (Figure 3).

So, choose whatever idiom you like (“don’t rock the boat,” “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, etc.), but the bio/pharma industry overall seems content right where it is as 2025 dawns.

References

1. Spivey, C. New Therapies Cry Out for New Skills. Pharmaceutical Technology 2024, 48 (1) 16–19.
2. Playter, G. Crossing the Same River Multiple Times. Pharmaceutical Technology 2023, 47 (1) 19–21.
3. Playter, G. The Long Path to Normal. Pharmaceutical Technology 2022, 46 (1) 19–21.
4. Peters, R. Compensation Does Not Necessarily Align with Job Satisfaction. Pharmaceutical Technology 2021, 45 (1) 20–24.
5. Pharmaceutical Technology. 2024 Pharmaceutical Technology/BioPharm International Employment Survey (December 2024).

About the author

Patrick Lavery is an Editor for Pharmaceutical Technology^®.

Article details

Pharmaceutical Technology®
Vol. 49, No. 1
January/February
Pages: 14–16

Citation

When referring to this article, please cite it as Lavery, P. Split Opinions on Training Strategies. Pharmaceutical Technology 2025 49 (1).