Survey: Pharmaceutical Scientists' Salaries Rose In 1990

Buoyed by strong demand for personnel to conduct research and development programs in the quest for new products, average annual salaries for pharmaceutical scientists rose significantly in 1990, a recently released survey found. However, according to the study, the recession dampened starting pay during the same year. Healthy gains were posted by professionals in government, industry, and academia, according to the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), which sponsored the survey. The average annual salary for pharmaceutical scientists in industry was $66,300, a 4.9 percent increase over the 1989 level, while pay for these scientists rose by 7.3 percent in academia, to an average of $63,100. Government employees received $57,300 on average, a 5.3 percent gain, the results showed. By contrast, average starting pay dropped 2.5 percent, to $43,400. And average salaries for new hires in industry remained flat, at $45,100. The survey tallied responses from 1,705 pharmaceutical scientists who in early 1991 were asked to describe their status as of December 1990. All respondents belonged to AAPS, which has a total of 6,104 members and is based in Alexandria, Va. By far, the majority of survey respondents were employed in industry--78 percent--and most were working in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Eighteen percent of the respondents had academic jobs, and 2 percent were employed in government positions. Although the recession was worsening as the survey was conducted, the results indicated that experienced pharmaceutical scientists were able to maintain relatively high salary levels. For instance, the survey report indicates that the average base pay for bachelor's degree holders in industry with less than five years' experience was $43,500, compared with $30,600 in 1987. "In general, pharmaceutical areas do well. They don't get hit by recession to the same degree as some other areas because of the ongoing need for medication," says Thomas Rosanske, head of analytical chemistry at Marion Merrell Dow Inc. in Kansas City. "You could also make a case for the salary increases based on the bad economic times." The stress produced in the general population by layoffs or threatened layoffs, Rosanske says, "creates medical problems," resulting in increased demand for pharmaceutical products. "We've been somewhat insulated" from the recession, says Thomas Patton, director of pharmaceutical research and development at Merck & Co. Inc. in Rahway, N.J. "But things are not as loose as they once were. Companies are tightening up and being more cautious about budgets." Meanwhile, the average salary for a full professor was $78,000, a 5.7 percent gain from the 1989 level, while associate professors earned $57,000, a 9.2 percent rise. The increase was more modest for assistant professors, who earned an average of $44,700, a 1.6 percent hike. Among the survey's demographic findings was that 47 percent of the respondents were from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, New York, or Michigan, a trend that's remained constant over the past four years. For the third consecutive year, 80 percent of the respondents were male and 64 percent held Ph.D. degrees. (In 1988, 84 percent were male, and 68 percent held Ph.D.'s.) In industry, the average salary for men was $69,500, a 4.7 percent increase over the 1989 average, while the average pay for women was $54,200, a 6 percent gain. One reason given for the disparity is that there are fewer women working in the field, and many of them entered the work force more recently. "As a group, women in this industry are younger, and they didn't start getting into the work force until recently-- and, as a result, they're located at the lower end of the pay scales," says Stuart Speedie, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. In general, scientists with doctorates in pharmaceutical science saw their average pay rise 8.5 percent, to $72,700. Bachelor's holders, however, suffered a 17.4 percent drop, to an average of $52,300. The only explanation offered by AAPS officials for the latter finding was that the 1990 crop of B.S. degree holders "most likely represents a different group of B.S. holders from those reporting in 1989." Female Ph.D.'s with less than five years' experience posted average 8.7 percent increases in base annual salary in 1990 over 1989; those with five to 10 years' experience garnered 7.5 percent gains on average, and those with 10 to 20 years' experience received average increases of 11.8 percent. Although the survey didn't include statistics for 1991, when the recession was reported to have inflicted its worst damage, some cautionary signs appear in the study's findings. Only 28 percent of the respondents indicated that they were considering taking another job, which was a 7 percent drop from the previous year and the lowest level in four years. Indeed, some companies also have put hiring for certain positions on hold as a spillover effect from recent mergers in the industry. "The bigger companies aren't looking to expand to the same degree anymore," says Marion Merrell Dow's Rosanske. "We haven't hired anyone since our merger [of Marion Laboratories Inc. and Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.] three years ago. We'll probably start again, but not at a very fast rate. We have a certain target, in terms of head count, and once we reach that, we'll level off for a while. Hiring goes in spurts." Edward R. Silverman is a freelance writer based in Hoboken, N.J.

Survey: Pharmaceutical Scientists' Salaries Rose In 1990

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