Life sciences sector growth slows in Mass.
BOSTON (WWLP) – After 13 straight years of increased employment in the Bay State's life sciences sector, 2024 data shows stagnancy.
Massachusetts' economy relies on 'meds and eds,' meaning the medicine and education industries. Life sciences fall into that 'meds' category, and include pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices, and more.
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On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation published a report that analyzes last year's employment numbers. It shows that Massachusetts had 143,142 life sciences jobs in 2024, just 0.02% more than there were in 2023. Compared to 2022's growth rate of 6.85% and 2023's rate of 9.18%, the slowdown is significant.
According to the foundation that published the report, this slowdown is not a cause for major panic and is consistent with prior ebbs and flows of the industry.
'2024 was an uncertain year with a big election coming up in the fall, so I think the companies took a conservative approach ahead of that consequential election,' said MassBioEd Foundation's CEO, Sunny Schwartz.
Despite last year's lack of growth, long-term trends continue to show an industry boom, as the industry continues to outperform the state economy as a whole. Over this same decade and a half period of industry growth, lawmakers have steered billions towards the industry, including last year's reauthorization of $500 million in borrowing for the industry over the next ten years.
Although many life sciences jobs are based in Boston, the state of Massachusetts' taxpayers and economy have a ripple effect from Peabody to Palmer to Pittsfield.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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