HUMAN CAPITAL PULSE: LIFE SCIENCES · ISSUE 10 · OCTOBER 2026
A monthly Human Capital benchmark for HR and People leaders in Life Sciences: the sector's talking points and how culture, workforce and talent compare across your peers, built on Deltabase data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
Editor's note
October showed why boards need a fuller view of Human Capital. AstraZeneca launched a $1.5 billion savings programme while saying headcount will not shrink, GSK put more than 1,200 Belgian roles at risk, and BioSpace recorded the lowest quarterly layoff figures since it began tracking. Each story turns on the same questions: where people sit, what skills they hold and how they feel. Here is how to report that.
Leroy Hall, Deltabase
The month in three
1. AstraZeneca reshapes, but says headcount won't shrink
What happened: AstraZeneca launched a three-year "reshaping for sustainable growth" programme on 30 October, targeting $1.5 billion of annual savings at a cost of up to $2 billion, ITV News reported. Chief financial officer Aradhana Sarin said "we are not expecting to shrink the headcount", with hiring and upskilling in some areas and reductions or reorganisation in others. The company employs about 100,000 people, around 10,000 of them in the UK.
The Deltabase lens: Reshaping without shrinking means moving people between functions. Deltabase Workforce data shows 12.2% of AstraZeneca's workforce in healthcare operations, 2.9% in clinical affairs and 1.9% in regulatory affairs, while Deltabase Employee Turnover data shows headcount up 1.9% between December 2025 and August 2026.
So what: A promise not to shrink is only credible with a clear view of where roles are moving. Boards will ask for it.
2. GSK puts more than 1,200 Belgian roles at risk
What happened: GSK confirmed to BioSpace on 14 October that up to 1,217 employees could be affected at its Rixensart, Wavre and Gembloux sites in Belgium, part of the three-year, $2.5 billion restructuring that CEO Luke Miels unveiled in July. According to Reuters, the plan includes streamlining research, manufacturing and support operations, partly through digital and automation tools. GSK says it will remain Belgium's largest biopharma employer.
The Deltabase lens: Automation-led restructures depend on the skills to run them. In Deltabase Talent data, 1.3% of GSK's workforce hold digital transformation skills and 0.3% robotic process automation skills, against 1.4% and 0.4% at Novartis.
So what: When automation is part of the rationale, report the reskilling plan alongside the headcount numbers.
3. Q3 layoffs hit a tracking low
What happened: BioSpace reported on 8 October that 27 biopharma companies made or projected cuts in Q3 2026, affecting 2,568 employees, down 56% and 90% respectively on Q3 2025 and the lowest quarterly figures since it began tracking in 2024. Eight Big Pharma companies accounted for 1,845 of those employees, and New Jersey was the hardest-hit state with 851.
The Deltabase lens: Culture held up across the sector last year. Six of our ten Life Sciences peers improved their Employee Net Sentiment Score in 2025, and the peer median reached +11.0%.
So what: Healthy averages can hide falls at individual companies. Boards should see the trend for their own organisation, not just the latest sector number.
Stat of the month
−6.0 pts: GSK's change in Employee Net Sentiment in 2025, the only fall among these five peers in a three-pillar board view
| Company | Headcount | NSS 2025 | Change vs 2024 | Workforce with project management skills |
|---|
| AstraZeneca | 81,500 | +10.4% | +3.3 pts | 16.4% |
| GSK | 93,500 | +9.5% | −6.0 pts | 13.4% |
| Novartis | 88,500 | +14.9% | +0.2 pts | 16.4% |
| AbbVie | 59,674 | +6.6% | +2.0 pts | 17.6% |
| Eli Lilly | 48,048 | +8.4% | +3.0 pts | 24.1% |
Source: Deltabase Workforce data (headcount from employee profiles, which can differ from company-reported totals); Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), 2024–2025; Deltabase Talent data, share of workforce holding project management skills.
Spotlight: GSK vs Novartis
Two European majors with similar scale but different shapes. Supportive Leadership weakened at both in 2025, to −22.5% at GSK (from −17.6%) and −17.4% at Novartis (from −12.0%). Novartis carries more of its workforce in operations (7.1% against 5.6%) and general administration (4.8% against 4.0%). Turnover is easing at both: monthly rates added up to 5.1% at GSK and 4.8% at Novartis for January to August 2026, against 6.3% and 7.0% a year earlier. Novartis has the deeper training bench, with 8.8% of staff holding training skills against 6.7% at GSK.
For your People team
- Build a one-page Human Capital view for the board that combines culture trend, workforce shape and critical skills, as in our table.
- Report restructuring in both directions: roles reduced, roles created and people reskilled.
- Show sentiment as a trend over years, not a single score, so a fall like GSK's in 2025 is visible early.
See how your Human Capital compares with your Life Sciences peers. Book a 30-minute benchmark walkthrough across culture, workforce and talent. Book a walkthrough →
Sources: ITV News (30 October 2026); BioSpace (14 October 2026); BioSpace (8 October 2026); Deltabase Culture data; Deltabase Workforce data; Deltabase Talent data; Deltabase Employee Turnover data.