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If you work in pharmaceuticals in the DACH region and you think your position is bulletproof, I'd gently suggest you reconsider that assumption. Unless you've personally discovered the cure for cancer last Tuesday, perhaps keep your CV updated. Just a thought.
I've spent 16 years in talent acquisition – eight of them at a major German pharmaceutical company, five at Top 5 Global CROs – and 2025 was, by any reasonable measure, brutal. On the bright side, I've never had more LinkedIn connection requests. On the less bright side, I know exactly why.
The numbers speak for themselves: approximately 42,700 employees were affected by layoffs in 2025, representing a 47% year-over-year increase. BioSpace Layoff rounds rose 16% year over year Fierce Biotech, with at least 128 layoff rounds in the first half of the year alone – a staggering 32% jump from the same period in 2024. The HR Digest May 2025 marked the highest monthly tally in four years, with 29 reductions in force hitting companies large and small. Fierce Biotech
If layoffs were an Olympic sport, our industry would be taking gold, silver, AND bronze. Deutschland über alles, as they say. (Too soon? Probably.)
The names on the list are no longer just struggling biotechs burning through their Series A while the CEO perfects his TED talk. They're the giants: Novo Nordisk cutting roughly 9,000 employees – 11% of its global workforce, with 5,000 job cuts in Denmark alone Fierce Pharma, representing the largest job loss in Danish corporate history. Suddenly those Ozempic jokes hit differently when 9,000 people are losing weight from their payroll. Merck plans to cut approximately 6,000 jobs globally as part of a restructuring initiative targeting $3 billion in annual cost savings by 2027. PharmExec CSL announced plans to lay off about 15% of its workforce and close 22 plasma centres in the United States. PharmExec
So why is 2025 hitting so hard?
Six factors are driving this correction, and they're converging simultaneously – like a perfect storm, except the storm is made of redundancy packages and awkward all-hands meetings:
The post-COVID reckoning. Remember 2020-2022? Companies hired like the apocalypse was a permanent business model. Novo employed around 78,000 people at the end of August 2025, an 80% increase from just five years ago. "They had far too many employees. That's what happens when you grow so quickly." Chemistry World Turns out, pandemics end. Who knew?
The patent cliff is no longer theoretical. Merck's workforce reduction comes amid concerns over the looming loss of exclusivity for its top-selling cancer drug Keytruda. PharmExec Novartis faces the patent cliff for Entresto. BMS is bracing for Eliquis and Opdivo expiration around 2028. The cliff isn't coming – we're already falling. Enjoy the view on the way down.
The GLP-1 bubble deflating. Novo Nordisk's markets are evolving, particularly in obesity, as it has become more competitive and consumer-driven. CNN Competition from Eli Lilly and compounding pharmacies has eroded margins. Apparently everyone wants to sell weight loss drugs now. Revolutionary.
The venture capital drought. Capital tightening primarily drove the increased layoffs. After a wave of early-stage biotech failures, investors rotated out of the sector, which significantly constrained funding. BioSpace Investors discovered that "disruptive biotech platform" sometimes means "PowerPoint and prayers."
Regulatory chaos. Regulatory uncertainties, such as tariffs and MFN pricing issues, could cause further issues down the road. PharmExec The US political climate has added a layer of unpredictability that makes German Bundesliga relegation battles look stable.
M&A consolidation continues. When companies merge, "synergies" is corporate-speak for "we need two of you like we need two appendices." Someone's always surplus to requirements.
THE FIVE THINGS THAT ACTUALLY WORK
Right. Enough doom. Here's where I stop describing the iceberg and hand you a life jacket. Whether you're a fresh graduate hunting for your first traineeship in Munich (good luck, you'll need it – and I say that with love), a mid-career professional sensing trouble in Basel, or a senior leader whose division is "under strategic review" in Berlin (translation: update LinkedIn immediately), the fundamentals remain remarkably consistent.
1. Update your CV now – not when you need it.
I cannot stress this enough. The worst time to write your CV is when you're panicking after a redundancy announcement, three glasses of Riesling deep, wondering if "extensive experience in existential dread" counts as a soft skill. (It doesn't. I've checked.)
Do it today. Document your achievements with numbers. "Managed clinical trials" tells me nothing. "Led three Phase II oncology trials across 12 sites in DACH with 98% patient retention" tells me everything.
For those of you over 50 who feel the job market has written you off: your experience is not a liability, but only if you present it strategically. Focus on recent achievements, demonstrate adaptability, and for heaven's sake, don't list every role since 1992. The last 10-15 years will do nicely. Nobody needs to know you once operated a fax machine with excellence. Companies need institutional knowledge more than ever – position yourself as a stabilising force, not a museum exhibit.
2. Your network is your insurance policy.
This sounds trite because every LinkedIn "guru" says it while posting sunset photos with captions about "the grind." The difference is in execution. I'm not talking about mass connection requests with copy-pasted messages that begin "I came across your profile and was impressed by your journey." (We all know you sent that to 400 people, Klaus.)
Reach out to former colleagues before you need something from them. Have conversations that aren't transactional. When the axe falls, the people who find new roles fastest are invariably those who've invested in relationships during the good times. The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now. The worst time is when you're already falling out of the tree.
For international candidates requiring visa sponsorship: your network matters even more. Referrals significantly increase your chances of companies being willing to navigate the administrative complexity. Germany loves bureaucracy, but even Germans have limits.
For executives: the C-suite and VP roles are rarely advertised. They're filled through networks and reputation. If nobody knows what you think about the challenges facing the industry, you're invisible to the people making hiring decisions.
3. Target your applications ruthlessly.
Sending 200 generic applications is not a strategy. It's an anxiety management technique disguised as productivity. I understand the impulse – clicking "Easy Apply" releases a tiny hit of dopamine that temporarily masks the existential terror. But it doesn't work.
Identify 15-20 companies where you genuinely want to work. Research them properly. Tailor each application. One thoughtful, well-researched application is worth fifty that begin with "Dear Hiring Manager, I am excited to apply for any available position at your esteemed organisation." (I can feel your excitement through the screen. It's palpable. Truly.)
Juniors and career starters: this applies doubly to you. Competition for traineeships and entry-level positions is fierce, particularly in Germany where established programmes are highly sought after. Your application needs to demonstrate you understand what the company actually does and why you specifically want to be there. "I'm passionate about pharmaceutical innovation" is not a personality. Be specific or be ignored.
4. Build visible expertise.
This doesn't mean becoming a LinkedIn content creator who posts motivational platitudes at 7am with hashtags like #MondayMotivation #Hustle #Blessed #Pharma #ThoughtLeader #GratefulForThisJourney. Please. I beg you. We have enough of those.
It means demonstrating genuine knowledge in your field. Write thoughtful comments on industry discussions. Share articles with your own analysis attached. If you've learned something useful, share it without expectation of return. Over time, this builds a reputation that makes recruiters come to you rather than the other way around.
5. Consider adjacent opportunities.
Beyond the headlines, these layoffs represent a structural rebalancing of talent within life sciences. While painful for affected professionals, the turnover also redistributes expertise toward smaller, innovation-driven biotechs and decentralised trial models. RapidTrials
The pharmaceutical industry is not the only place where your skills have value. Consulting firms are hiring (and will charge clients €2,000 per day for your expertise, so you might as well capture some of that yourself). Medical communications agencies need scientists who can write. Health tech companies want people who understand clinical development. Regulatory bodies need experts. CROs continue to need talent, even as some restructure.
Don't limit yourself to doing exactly what you've always done. Your skills transfer more broadly than you might think. And if all else fails, I hear there's good money in teaching Germans how to use LinkedIn properly. Apparently.
A WORD ABOUT THE LINKEDIN CAREER ADVICE INDUSTRY
I need to address something that genuinely concerns me. And unlike most things I say, this isn't meant to be funny.
In times of job insecurity, a cottage industry emerges: people selling certainty to the frightened. You'll find them in your feed, promising to "unlock the hidden job market" or reveal "the one secret recruiters don't want you to know" – usually for €2,997 (but ONLY if you sign up in the next 24 HOURS because this EXCLUSIVE offer is LIMITED).
Let me be blunt: there is no secret. There is no hidden job market that opens with a magic password. There is no guaranteed method that works for everyone. If there were, I'd be on a yacht, not writing LinkedIn articles.
What there is, is hard work, patience, genuine relationship-building, and a bit of luck. Anyone promising otherwise is selling you something.
Be particularly wary of:
"Coaches" who've never actually worked in your industry but watched a documentary about Pfizer once
Promises of specific outcomes ("I'll get you a job in 30 days or your money back*" *terms and conditions apply, money never actually back)
Programmes that cost thousands but offer only generic advice you could find on Google for free
Anyone whose primary qualification is being good at LinkedIn
"Experts" who discovered pharmaceutical recruitment exists approximately six months ago and now call themselves "Pharma Career Transformation Specialists"
Some career coaches are genuinely excellent and worth every penny. They tend to be the ones who are honest about limitations, experienced in their field, and realistic about outcomes. They also tend not to be the ones with the loudest megaphones or the most aggressive countdown timers on their landing pages.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Industry experts don't expect 2026's layoffs to continue at 2025's pace. One predicted not only a levelling off but also a modest increase in headcount. "Rates are coming down, healthcare sentiment has improved with the XBI up over 30 percent, and a new climate of fiscal discipline combined with growth in areas like data science, AI and machine learning, and computational biology should support some improvement in 2026." BioSpace
That's cautiously optimistic. But as we say in Germany: Optimismus ist nur Mangel an Information. (Optimism is just a lack of information.)
The pharmaceutical industry in DACH is going through a genuinely difficult period. Pretending otherwise helps nobody – except perhaps the people selling you €3,000 courses on "manifesting your dream pharma career."
But difficult is not impossible. Companies are still hiring, just more selectively. The industry still needs talent, even as it restructures. And German Arbeitsrecht still provides protections that make our American colleagues weep with envy.
What's changed is that the margin for error has shrunk. The lazy application, the neglected network, the outdated CV – these were always suboptimal. Now they're disqualifying.
If you're currently secure, prepare anyway. If you're worried, act now. If you've already been affected, know that this is survivable and that your next opportunity is out there, even if it doesn't feel like it today.
And if you're reading this and thinking about reaching out for advice - write me in the comments or DM me.
We're all navigating the same choppy waters. Might as well do it together.
Prost! 🍺
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What's your experience with the current job market in DACH? Have you survived a restructuring? Did a LinkedIn guru promise to change your life for three easy payments of €999? I'd genuinely like to hear your perspective in the comments.
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