WASHINGTON—Employees in the biotechnology industry are enjoying more salary increases, cash incentive programs and educational assistance, yet the annual turnover rate for some positions is as high as 23 percent, according to a recent survey conducted by Radford Associates for the Industrial Biotechnology Association.

The Biotechnology Compensation and Benefits Survey collected information from 126 biotechnology companies based primarily in the United States and Canada. Salary increases were found to average 6.8 percent for all job categories.

The highest turnover was found in the lower-paying entry level jobs. "Companies are finding they'll have to become competitive with their base salaries," said John Radford of Radford Associates. When the biotechnology industry was emerging, he said, many companies had a lock on their employees. "But now the honeymoon's over. Biotech companies will have to compete to keep their employees just like everyone else."

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