Life Sciences Employers Consider Areas Beyond Established Biopharm Hubs
In the labor market, life sciences hubs continue to rely on talent to drive innovation. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 Life Sciences Labor Dynamics Across Key U.S. Markets report, labor is also essential for site selection.
Report authors Sandy Romero (Head of Office & Alternatives) and Maggie Tillotson (Senior Research Analyst) told Connect CRE that the traditional life sciences hubs, including Boston-Cambridge, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Raleigh-Durham, continue to lead the nation in R&D and pharmaceutical manufacturing employment due to large talent pools and employer bases
However, “growth has accelerated in a market like Denver, which has seen double-digit annual growth in life sciences jobs in the last five years and is projected to continue to see robust growth in the next five,” the team said.
While the hubs will remain dominant, “the next tier of markets is becoming increasingly competitive,” the team added.
More Selective
The report indicated that, rather than focusing on established biotech clusters, some employers are considering other issues, including the cost of living. The higher-cost markets of the Bay Area, New York, Boston and San Diego require higher wages to attract talent.
Secondary markets, not so much.
“Midwest and Southeast markets offer more cost-efficient labor environments,” the report noted.
The report also said that education pipelines are a “critical differentiator across markets.” Romero and Tillotson added that hub markets are successful in combining world-class universities, employer networks, access to capital and effective infrastructure for industry collaboration.
But southern markets are catching up.
The team explained that Texas markets, including Austin, Dallas and Houston, are experiencing increased enrollment in life-science related programs.
“Degree completions in these programs have nearly doubled over the past decade, strengthening the talent pipeline and improving the region’s ability to support future industry growth,” Tillotson and Romero added.
Employment and Hiring
The life sciences hiring environment encountered some bumps in the 2023-2025 period. Tillotson and Romero said that things are settling down quite nicely.
“Alongside improving M&A and IPO activity, live sciences employment also appears to have steadied throughout the first half of 2026,” they said. The team cited a recent Fierce Biotech analysis that found the 50 biopharma layoff announcements through the first two quarters of 2025 represented a significant decline from the 128 announcements in the year before.
While life sciences employment tends to favor experienced workers, there is evidence of a shift toward earlier-career hires. Romero and Tillotson said that workers aged 22 to 34 accounted for 28% of total industry hires in 2019, rising to 30% in 2025.
“Although this increase is modest, it suggests that companies are beginning to place greater emphasis on building future talent pipelines in addition to recruiting experienced professionals,” the authors said.
However, not all posted jobs are being filled. Employers face challenges filling positions in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, cloud engineering and computational biology.
“These positions are challenging to fill because the sector has to compete for the same talent pool with other industries,” the Cushman & Wakefield authors explained.
Next Up?
Looking ahead, the report’s authors indicated that the Texas markets are “well-positioned to gain momentum over the next three to five years.”
In addition to increased life sciences education, population and employment growth, along with investments in research capacity, workforce capacity and a broad economic base, can support life sciences expansion.
“While these markets might not displace the established hubs, they are likely to capture a larger share of job growth,” the team said.
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