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How will the Global Economic Struggle Affect your Lab?

In a recent study, 530 of your SAB colleagues let us in on their opinions on the state of the economy in relation to their life science careers. All participants were knowledgeable about their lab’s annual budget & represented a mix of US market segments (53% Academic, 39% Industrial, 8% Government) across many different research fields & job positions.

“Has your research been affected by the current economic recession?” The majority of all respondents across all segments indicated "yes”.

The majority of study respondents (65%) have had their research affected by the economic recession. – Graph Source: Bioinformatics, LLC.

This study highlights the impact that the global economic crisis has had on the life sciences. The potential problems facing those in life science careers include budget reductions, hiring freezes, employee layoffs, and a decrease in the number and scale of research projects due to modifications/reductions in lab budgets.

Questions addressed in this study:

How will scientists keep track of lab expenditures?
What products & instrumentation are considered to be essential purchases, rather than purchases that could be cut from the budget?
What are scientists’ thoughts on the economic crisis & how it affects their employment opportunities and research budget?
How will life science suppliers respond to the changing needs of scientists? (Discounts, incentives, advice on how to conserve resources/use resources efficiently)

The average lab engages in approximately five of 18 specific cost-saving practices with the most common ones being delaying or canceling nonessential purchases and deferring capital equipment purchases being the most common. Typically, academic facilities tend to share instrumentation and other resources between labs when compared to industrial facilities. Also, as one might expect in the private sector, industrial facilities tend towards more aggressive staff downsizing and outsourcing in lean times verses their academic counterparts. Curiously, industrial labs, more so than academic labs, also try to increase their energy efficiency, purchase used instrumentation, and when necessary, postpone or suspend projects. – Graph Source: Bioinformatics, LLC.

Although you may not have had a chance to participate in this study directly, we invite you to discuss the matter in our community forums. How is the economic situation affecting your career in the life sciences? Click here to join the forum topic on: How is the economic downturn affecting your lab?

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