Employment in Biosciences & High Tech Remains Strong

Two independent reports out this week indicate that employment in Ohio within key sectors continued to grow through 2008 (the most recent year for which data is available).  The annual Cyberstates report on high tech trends ranked Ohio 8th in terms of the number of high tech jobs added between 2007 and 2008 and 14th nationally for the total high tech workers in the state.  For the fourth consecutive year, Cyberstates reported growth within Ohio’s high tech industry.  The state added a net 4,100 jobs in 2008. 

“There is a momentum that happens when the economy and the markets embrace the talent, the ideas — and that’s what we’re seeing,” Haynes said. “With all the research assets here — health care, the IT businesses, the grass-roots activity — Columbus is a real driver in creating tech jobs. Columbus has come into its own.”

Also this week Battelle released the annual State Science Initiatives 2010 Report.  Conducted on behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the report charts the growth of biosciences in the US through 2008.  The report shows that even during recessionary times, employment in the bioscience industry grew 1.4 percent, while total private sector employment declined by 0.7 percent. This 2008 growth was seen primarily in the research/testing, medical device and agbiosciences subsectors.  Drugs and pharmaceuticals was the only subsector to show a decrease in jobs through 2008.

In Ohio, growth within key subsectors has helped solidify the state’s standings within the biotechnology industry.  A large and specialized employment base in agbiosciences continued to fuel growth within the state through 2008.  In addition, the state’s research testing and medical laboratories subsector and medical device subsector have both grown faster than the national rate since 2001.  The report also indicates that during the last six years, a total of $626 million in venture capital has been invested in Ohio bioscience companies – primarily in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. 

The report concludes that throughout the 21st Century the biosciences will continue to be a key engine of economic growth within the US. 

For the full report, click here

For more on the Cyberstates Report see the article in the Dispatch