Incheon biotech firms prioritize upskilling over new hires, survey finds

Biotech companies in Incheon are placing greater urgency on upskilling their existing workforce than on hiring new employees, a survey has found.

The Incheon Human Resources Development Council surveyed 119 local biotech firms for its "2026 Biotech Industry Workforce and Training Needs Survey," released Thursday. Of the 771 workers companies said they needed training for, 581 — or 75.4 percent — were experienced hires. Entry-level workers accounted for just 190, or 24.6 percent.

The findings suggest that demand in Incheon's biotech sector runs far more strongly toward advancing the technical skills of current employees and retraining them for new roles than toward bringing in fresh talent.

The survey also highlighted a defining characteristic of Incheon's biotech industry: 84 of the responding firms, or 70.6 percent, were concentrated in "white biotech" — a segment focused on eco-friendly biological materials and processes.

Training demand reflected that focus, clustering around technical areas directly tied to the production floor.

The largest single training need was in "production support and polymer process operation," cited for 128 workers, followed by "bio raw material preprocessing and active ingredient extraction" at 118 workers.

Demand for hands-on training in analyzing the physical properties of materials and products and operating various analytical instruments reached 85 workers.

The survey also confirmed a growing need for training to help companies navigate the digital transformation and automation of the biotech industry.

Demand for courses on "smart bio-foundry operations" — covering AI- and robot-based automation systems — as well as digital health platform training was concentrated among experienced workers.

For entry-level hires, by contrast, the survey found that basic, hands-on training for immediate deployment on the production floor was the priority.

Courses directly applicable to real production and analytical work — including bio raw material preprocessing and extraction, physical property testing, and instrument analysis — were rated as both highly necessary and urgently needed.

The council said it plans to incorporate the relevant training programs into its region- and industry-tailored workforce development projects for the second half of this year.