Career Trends: Biological Technicians

Biological technicians help biological and medical scientists conduct laboratory tests and experiments.

Biological technicians typically work in laboratories. Most biological technicians work full time.

Biological technicians typically need a bachelor’s degree in biology or a closely related field. It is important for prospective biological technicians to gain laboratory experience while in school.

Employment of biological technicians is projected to grow 5 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Continued growth in biotechnology and medical research is expected to increase demand for these workers.

This occupation supported 80,200 jobs in 2012 and 79,300 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 1.1%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 10.1% in 2022 to 88,300 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 81,800, compared with an observed value of 79,300, 3.1% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 5.2% in 2024 to 83,500 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 89,900 jobs for 2024, 7.7% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.