Since the New York City life science technology-consulting firm Intrasphere Technologies opened an office in India, Samuel Goldman, cofounder and chief technology officer, says he works fairly bizarre hours, scheduling 6:00 A.M. meetings on a "regular basis." In looking at industry trends, more and more scientists should brace themselves for strange commutes, middle-of-the-night E-mails, and videoconferences with coworkers.
That's right: it appears that offshoring has arrived.
Although the terms "offshoring" and "outsourcing" are often used interchangeably, they are not the same-but both are happening in the pharmaceutical industry. Offshoring typically describes what happens when a company runs its own facility abroad. Outsourcing describes when a company uses another firm to work as a contractor.
The jury is still out on how offshoring will affect job prospects for life scientists in the pharmaceutical industry. Some analysts say it will mean job losses in the United States, while others insist the cost ...
