HUMAN CAPITAL ADVISOR BRIEFING · ISSUE 2 · FEBRUARY 2026
A monthly briefing for consultants and transformation advisers on what's happening in your clients' sectors, plus the Human Capital Intelligence to take into the room. Built on Deltabase data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
Life sciences opened 2026 with leadership and strategy on the move. GSK reported its first results under Luke Miels, Novo Nordisk warned of its first sales decline in years, and AstraZeneca began trading directly on the New York Stock Exchange. Each creates work for advisers, from operating-model change to cost programmes and expansion. Each also has a people dimension that clients rarely see from the inside. Here is the outside-in view.
Phil Spratt, CEO & Co-Founder, Deltabase
What happened: On 4 February, GSK reported full-year sales up 7% to £32.67bn in Luke Miels' first update as chief executive, having succeeded Dame Emma Walmsley at the start of 2026. Miels called 2026 a year of execution and operational delivery, with the company targeting £40bn in annual revenue by 2031.
The Deltabase lens: GSK's NSS fell from +15.5% in 2024 to +9.5% in 2025 (1,471 and 1,111 reviews), the largest drop among the ten Life Sciences companies in our Top 100. Career Progression fell from −33.8% to −50.8%.
Client angle: A new CEO with a delivery mandate usually means operating-model work. Career Progression is the theme to raise early, because it shapes who stays through the change.
What happened: Novo Nordisk said its 2026 sales could fall by as much as 13% at constant exchange rates, which would be its first sales decline in years, and its shares dropped 18% at the Copenhagen open on 4 February. It cited US pricing pressure, patent expiries and competition from Eli Lilly and compounders.
The Deltabase lens: Novo enters this period from a strong base: its NSS was +13.2% in 2025 (859 reviews), up from +12.9% in 2024. Eli Lilly, its main rival, improved from +5.4% to +8.4% (704 and 574 reviews).
Client angle: Cost programmes at companies with strong cultures carry a specific risk: the goodwill that makes change easier can be spent quickly. Benchmarks help advisers show clients what they stand to lose.
What happened: AstraZeneca began trading its ordinary shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange on 2 February, alongside London and Stockholm, and reaffirmed its goals of US$80bn in annual revenue and 20 new medicines by 2030.
The Deltabase lens: AstraZeneca's NSS rose from +7.2% in 2024 to +10.4% in 2025 (1,370 and 1,034 reviews), and Career Progression improved 26.0 pts to −32.7%, now well ahead of GSK.
Client angle: Growth ambitions of this size depend on hiring and moving talent at pace. Improving career sentiment is a useful proof point when advising on workforce planning and US expansion.
6 of 10: Life Sciences leaders in the Deltabase Top 100 improved their NSS in 2025, lifting the sector median to +11.0%.
| Company | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pfizer | +5.9% | +11.6% | +5.6 pts |
| Sanofi | +17.2% | +21.4% | +4.2 pts |
| AstraZeneca | +7.2% | +10.4% | +3.3 pts |
| Eli Lilly | +5.4% | +8.4% | +3.0 pts |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | +6.5% | +3.1% | −3.4 pts |
| GSK | +15.5% | +9.5% | −6.0 pts |
Source: Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), 2024 and 2025. Median and count across AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi.
Britain's two pharma leaders swapped places in 2025. GSK began the year with the stronger culture score, +15.5% against AstraZeneca's +7.2%, but finished at +9.5% while AstraZeneca rose to +10.4%. The shift is clearest in Career Progression, where AstraZeneca improved from −58.7% to −32.7% and GSK fell from −33.8% to −50.8%. On Supportive Leadership, AstraZeneca rose to −20.6% while GSK slipped to −22.5%. For advisers pitching either, the conversation has moved from who has the better culture to who has the momentum.
Walk into every pitch with the people data already in hand. Advisers use Deltabase to benchmark culture, talent and workforce trends for any client or target in minutes. See how it works →
Sources: Pharmaphorum (4 February 2026); Pharmaceutical Technology (4 February 2026); MyChesCo (12 February 2026); Deltabase Culture data.