Switzerland – UK Life Sciences Labour Market Trends, June 2025
Pharma innovation and AI-led R&D sustain growth as biotech wavers
Key findings include:
- Scientist vacancies up 4.7% in 2025, led by pharmaceutical R&D
- Basel remains top hiring hub, bolstered by tax incentives and investment
- AI, patent expiries, and geopolitical shifts are reshaping demand
- Biotech hiring contracts sharply, while QC and R&D roles gain ground
- Roche, Siegfried and Bachem scale up as sector retools for early-stage discovery
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Switzerland’s reputation as Europe’s life sciences powerhouse remains intact in 2025, as the country continues to draw scientific investment at a time of mounting global uncertainty. With the United States tightening pricing policies and venture capital markets cooling, Switzerland’s political neutrality, robust IP protections, and skilled workforce are proving a magnet for pharmaceutical and biotech expansion.
Scientist vacancies reached their highest quarterly level in recent years in Q1, with 834 roles advertised. The country is on track to post a 4.7% annual increase in scientific hiring. Behind the numbers lies a sector in quiet evolution: legacy strengths in late-stage pharmaceuticals are being complemented by a growing focus on early-stage biotech and AI-assisted discovery.
The shift is being accelerated by patent expiries and tighter global scrutiny of exclusivity extensions. As blockbuster drugs lose protection, firms are rushing to refresh pipelines, often with AI in the loop. Algorithms now help identify drug targets, optimise trial design, and streamline compound validation. Switzerland’s top spot in the WIPO Global Innovation Index for the 14th year running is no coincidence; it reflects both long-term institutional strength and the country’s role in next-generation science.
Basel leads again as Aargau rises, Valais retreats
Regionally, Basel-Stadt continues to lead the pack, with hiring forecast to grow 8.6% in 2025 and its share of national demand climbing to 26%. The canton’s position has been strengthened further by a package of business-friendly tax incentives approved via referendum, underscoring the country’s consensus-driven approach to industrial policy.
Valais, once Switzerland’s second-largest life sciences hiring region, is losing ground, with vacancies expected to fall 5.6% this year. In contrast, Aargau is emerging as a rising star, with a 73.8% increase in scientist roles projected, narrowing the gap with Valais and hinting at a more decentralised future for Swiss R&D.
At the sectoral level, pharmaceuticals remain the mainstay, accounting for 87.2% of all scientific hiring in 2025. Their dominance is sustained by stable revenues and strategic investments in digital platforms, which help offset volatility elsewhere. By contrast, biotech is forecast to shrink by 25.7%, a consequence of funding pullbacks and investor caution. CROs have held steadier ground, with only a modest 6.0% decline, thanks to their embedded role in clinical execution and regulatory management.
R&D and quality control rise as legacy roles recede
Hiring data by role provides further insight into Switzerland’s scientific pivot. Laboratory positions, buoyed by expanding drug pipelines and manufacturing activity, are forecast to rise another 4.0% in 2025, following a 46.1% surge in 2024.
Quality control is also gaining ground, with a projected 21.0% increase, particularly in biologics, a more complex class of therapies that require tighter validation. Conversely, traditional Quality Assurance hiring is expected to drop by 4.4%, signalling continued process automation and the diminishing need for manual compliance monitoring.
Perhaps most revealing is the projected 25.5% increase in R&D vacancies. Companies are repositioning their talent around innovation and early-phase discovery as pipeline pressure mounts. This is prompting a decline in coordination-heavy functions: project management roles are forecast to fall by 23.4%, while drug manufacturing is set to contract by 55.7%, as firms address overcapacity and shifting global production footprints.
Roche retakes the lead as CDMOs scale specialist teams
At the company level, market leaders are diverging in their hiring strategies. Roche, headquartered in Basel, is projected to increase scientific hiring by 44.2% in 2025, retaking its top position from Lonza. The uptick reflects a strategic push into clinical trials and innovation-driven therapy development.
Lonza, operating mainly as a CDMO, is expected to reduce vacancies by 5.0%, as macroeconomic pressures weigh on outsourcing clients. Similarly, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis are scaling back, with projected cuts of 11.8% and 35.4% respectively, linked to cost-saving measures and internal restructuring.
Smaller players, however, are showing agility. Bachem, a leader in peptides and oligonucleotides, plans a 27.3% hiring increase, while Siegfried, another CDMO, is set to expand by 62.0%, driven by growth in gene therapies and obesity treatments. These firms are capitalising on niche demand and targeted investment in high-growth therapeutic areas.
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