Biology and Life Sciences

The outlook for careers in biological sciences is generally positive. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that job opportunities in the life science industry will grow faster than the average for all careers through 2032. For instance, employment in the fields of biochemistry and biophysics, which study the chemical and physical properties of organisms, is anticipated to grow by 7 percent through 2032, which is faster than the average for all occupations. Job opportunities for microbiologists, who study microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae, are projected to grow 5 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average. Agricultural and food scientists, who work to ensure safe and efficient food production, should experience growth of 6 percent (faster than the average) in this period. Average employment growth is expected for zoologists and wildlife biologists, who study animals and wildlife behavior.

Growth in the life sciences sector will occur due to aging populations, efforts to treat and even eliminate chronic diseases, expansion of emerging markets, and advances in technology. One area of especially strong growth is generative AI (GenAI). "Companies are looking to the potential of GenAI to bring more value across the board—both in terms of cost reduction and revenue uplift," according to "2024 Global Life Sciences Sector Outlook" from the professional services firm Deloitte. "GenAI and other AI technologies, coupled with digital transformation tools, are poised to increase overall efficiencies and process innovation across many areas of the life sciences value chain." Fifty-six percent of CEOs from some of the world’s largest and most influential companies said that they were already leveraging GenAI to enhance efficiencies, according to the Winter 2024 Fortune/Deloitte CEO Survey. Fifty-one percent of respondents said that they were likely to use GenAI to accelerate innovation, and 48 percent said that they would use it to discover new ideas and insights.

Genetics and biotechnology are two of the most promising employment areas for biologists. The American Institute of Biological Sciences says that botanists, horticulturalists, and plant geneticists, for example, will be needed to develop better methods of engineering crops. In an effort to curtail the loss of animal species due to human encroachment on wildlife areas and the effects of global warming, zoologists will be needed to develop and implement wildlife conservation programs. Researchers studying human biology will be hired in hopes of discovering ways to slow the aging process, cure genetic diseases, and reverse paralyzed nerve cells. Applications arising from new knowledge about recombinant DNA, or genetic engineering, promise to open up job opportunities, especially in the health care and pharmaceutical fields.

More biotechnology professionals will be needed to expand on existing research, specifically, learning how to isolate and identify genes for the treatment of diseases, among other things. A doctoral degree is required for most of the scientific research and teaching positions in this field. The outlook for biologists with doctoral degrees who want to teach at a college or university is competitive for basic research positions. Biologists with bachelor's or master's degrees will be sought after for nonscientific positions in sales, marketing, and research management.

As companies respond to public concern for protecting the environment and human health, there should also be many new jobs available for biologists with environmental specializations. Ecologists, whose work examines environmental effects, will be needed to continue work on global warming issues and disappearing rainforests. An increase in the amount of research dedicated to health issues, such as AIDS, cancer, coronaviruses (e.g., COVID-19, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and Alzheimer's disease, should also result in an increase of job opportunities.

Some biology and life science professionals work as college educators. The DOL reports the following employment outlooks from 2022 through 2032 for specialized college educators:

• biological sciences: +9 percent (much faster than the average)
• agricultural sciences: +5 percent (faster than the average)
• environmental science: +4 percent (about as fast as the average)
• chemistry: +4 percent (about as fast as the average)