Wanted: Savvy Grads in Math and Science

As this year’s college and university graduates head into the work force, New Jersey’s pharmaceutical and medical technology companies continue to be a leading source of jobs, offering excellent pay and benefits and promising career opportunities. The industry employs 60,000 workers statewide and modest growth is expected in all job categories for 2007-2010. The question is, will New Jersey’s graduates have the right educational preparation, especially in math and the sciences, to compete for jobs in this important sector?

A new report issued by the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) warns that there may not be enough qualified workers to fill projected job openings during the next several years.

Five of the six high-demand occupations identified in the report, titled “The Workforce Needs of New Jersey’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Technology Industry,” require a solid grounding in both math and science. However, relatively low numbers of New Jersey college graduates earn bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry, chemistry, animal science and marketing.

Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration and HINJ member companies are committed to developing a far-reaching work force development strategy to address these concerns. The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education is also supporting an Innovation Partnership Institute in the Life Sciences, housed at Rutgers University, whose purpose is to increase the number of graduates in critical fields of study.

The information contained in this post is taken directly from an article at NJBIZ.com dated 11 June 2007. The entire can be found here.