In total 499 persons filled in the survey, of which 49% were males and 51% females. The average age of the respondents was 29 years. About 90% of them have Dutch nationality. A third holds a PhD, or is pursuing a PhD, while respectively 43% have an MSc (student or graduate) and 22% a BSc (student or graduate). About a third of the respondents have none or less than 2 years of work experience, another third has 3 to 5 years and 36% have more than 5 years of experience.

Over 40% the respondents is currently an MSc, BSc or PhD student. Exactly half has a job (other than a PhD position), while 8% were unemployed at the time they filled in the survey. Of those with a job, more than half (52%) are looking for a new job.

 

Multinationals are the most wanted employers

Universities and University Medical Centres (UMCs) are the largest employers of the respondents. About 40% of them were working for universities or UMCs at the time they participated in this survey. However, as figure 1 shows, only 18% truly prefer universities or UMCs as their employer. Multinationals have the greatest appeal to most (33%) to the respondents.

 

Figure 1. Type of employers: current versus preferred employers.

 

Lack of future prospects is the number 1 reason for leaving a job

Lack of future prospects in their current job is the largest single reason for respondents to look for another job. Other important reasons for leaving a job are lack of challenge and a fixed-term contract, with no possibility of extension.

 

 

 

Figure 2. Reasons for searching for a new job

 

 

From bench to boardroom

We asked respondents with jobs what type of position they currently have and what type of position they desire to have in 3 to 5 years time. Figure 3 shows that more than half of them currently work in R&D (64%), 10% have a commercial position, 4% a managerial position and 2% an educational position. In 3 to 5 years the percentage of respondents that work in R&D is expected to decrease from 63% to 55%. The percentage with commercial jobs is also expected to decrease somewhat, while at the same time the percentage that has a management position is expected to increase from 4% to 27%.

 

 

Figure 3. Type of position: current versus expectation in 3 to 5 years time

 

 

Plans after graduation

PhD students were asked to indicate their career plans after graduating. The majority (62%) of the current ones wanted to find a job within their own research area, and 16% were considering a post-doc position. The remaining 22% had either not yet determined their future plans (15%) or intended to look for job outside their current research area (7%).

We also asked MSc and BSc students what they wanted to do after graduation. More than a quarter (28%) wanted to pursue a PhD, but the largest group (39%) planned to find a job within the (research) area they are being trained in. Nearly one out of ten intended to pursue an MSc.

 

 

Job search

By far the most common way of obtaining a job is through a straightforward application for a vacancy. Also, internships, graduate research projects and advice from one’s professor or teacher can play an important role in finding a (first) job.

 

 

Figure 4. Ways of obtaining a job

 

 

Within three months more than half (52%) of job seekers finds a (new) job, and within six months this figure rises to more than three quarters (78%). After a year of searching and writing applications 11% are still looking for employment.

 

We also asked the job seekers whether they would be willing to accept a job below their (educational) level or in another sector, in the event that they did not succeed in finding employment within a certain time. About a third (32%) would not consider a job below their level, while 24% would not consider one outside the sector. We conclude that in the case a job seeker who fails to find a job within an acceptable period, he or she is more likely to accept a job outside the life sciences than one beneath his or her educational level.

After 12 months of job searching 64% of job seekers would consider a job beneath their level, and 70% would consider one outside of the sector.

In reality, more than a fifth (21%) of the respondents works below their educational level.

 

 

High work pressure for the highly educated

In general respondents considered their work pressure as high (42%), or even very high (8%). Only a minority (7%) considered it as low or very low. The remaining 43% regarded it as neutral. Strikingly, the higher the educational level the heavier the respondents considered their work load to be. PhDs experience significantly higher work pressures than MScs and BScs.

 

Figure 5. Work pressure experienced at different levels of qualification

 

 

Positive outlook on the future

The majority of respondents had a positive outlook for their personal job perspectives in the Dutch Life Sciences sector. Fifty percent considered their prospects to be favourable, and an additional 7% even highly favourable. Only one out of ten were negative (8%) or very negative (2%) about their future prospects, while the remainder were either neutral (28%) or had no opinion (5%).

 

Many respondents believed that much will change in their career pathway in the near future. Only 6% were of the opinion that they would stay in the same position and continue to work for the same organisation in 3 to 5 years time. An additional 13% believed that they would stay with their current employer, while the rest believe that they will be employed in another organisation. More than half of the respondents (58%) thought after 3 to 5 years they would be in a different position and working for a different employer.

 

Figure 6. Job expectations within the next 3 to 5 years

 

Job satisfaction

Figure 6 might give the impression that the majority of the employed respondents were dissatisfied with their current employer, whereas, surprisingly, the majority are actually quite satisfied: 64% were satisfied or highly satisfied, and only 12% dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. In terms of their own job the majority were actually positive or extremely positive (65%). Compared with their employer and their own function, respondents were least satisfied about their salary: 26% being dissatisfied or highly dissatisfied.

 

 

Figure 7. Satisfaction with employer, job and salary

 

 

The most attractive employers

For the third year running, Organon has been selected by respondents as the most attractive employer. A list of the top-15 of the most attractive employers is given in table 1.

 

Table 1. Top-15 most attractive employers

1. Organon

2. DSM

3. TNO

4. UMC Utrecht/University of Utrecht

5. Government

6. Unilever

7. RIVM

8. Philips

9. University of Amsterdam/AMC

10. Solvay Pharmaceuticals

11. Shell

12. Free University of Amsterdam/VUmc

13. Crucell

14. NKI

15. Akzo Nobel

 

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