Biotech jobs Killian O’Driscoll NIBERT
Killian O’Driscoll, projects director, NIBRT. Image: Connor McKenna

More than 8,000 biotech jobs expected in the next five years

13 Mar 2017

Biopharma and biotech jobs are on the rise, with more than 8,000 new jobs expected in the industry in the next five years.

The biopharma industry has grown massively in recent years. With large manufacturing plants being built and a huge influx of investments, the biotech and pharma sectors will give jobseekers plenty of opportunities.

This rapid growth could be the reason there was such a big focus on biotech jobs at Career Zoo on 11 March.

Some of the biggest companies in biopharma were front and centre at the event in the Convention Centre Dublin, hoping to recruit top talent, including Takeda, Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

“Biopharma industry in Ireland is going from strength to strength, we’ve seen an awful lot of investment over the last period,” said Killian O’Driscoll, projects director at the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT).

“It is predicted that over the next five years, there’ll be upwards of 8,000 new jobs in the biotech sector,” he said.

Naturally, this is great news for jobseekers, but what kind of qualifications do people need to get one of those jobs? According to O’Driscoll, people that understand biotech and good manufacturing practices would have an advantage.

“Mainly, we’re looking for scientists and engineers and preferably people who have a good understanding of biotech,” he said. “But there are skills and opportunities right across the board.”

O’Driscoll said that NIBRT was at Career Zoo to help people that wanted to work in the biotech sector.

“We are a training and research organisation so we can provide training programmes for graduates, operators and technicians,” he said.

O’Driscoll added that many of the programmes are free of charge and ideal for anyone who wants to pursue a career in biotech but feels like they don’t have the necessary qualifications.

“If anyone feels like they don’t have those skills yet, NIBRT’s role is to help people get those skills, so they can have a successful career in biotech.”

Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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