Where PHT Members Work
As Membership Chair, from time to time I like to take a look at the PHT membership make-up. In November 2019, I analyzed the PHT "Active Members Roster" report provided by SLA chiefly to examine the types of organizations at which members worked. I also looked at the countries in which they were located.
Two years later, I have now conducted the same exercise to compare the rosters.
The good news is that the overall number of members has increased to 319 in January 2022, from 224 in November 2019, an increase of 95, or 42.4%.
Note that the increase in membership overall may partly be a result of the SLA 2020 Restructure change where SLA members pay one fee for SLA membership and join as many communities they like at no additional cost. Programming, like the Pharma Talks and Vendor Showcase series, may have contributed to the bump too.
See the attached slide for a graph that compares members' organization types in PHT.
Some Highlights on Organization Types
- 98 PHT members work at pharma/biotech companies today. In 2009 there were 86 such companies represented.
- Pharma services or consulting organizations is the next largest cohort with 49 members, a jump from 34 in 2019, accounting for a 44% rise.
- At 43, vendors are the third largest group. In 2019, there were 34 vendors. The number of vendors does not necessarily reflect the strong support PHT receives from its vendor partners, who may be organizational members of SLA. It's important to note that this number -- people who work at vendor companies -- have chosen to join PHT as individuals. Their companies may simultaneously be vendor members of SLA overall.
- The number of members from academia has grown to 30 in 2022, or a 66% increase from two years ago.
- Students comprise 8.8% of PHT membership.
Geography
PHT members today come from eleven different countries, with the vast majority located in the United States. In 2019, ten countries were represented. Here's a look:
Jan. 2022:
| Country |
Number |
| United States |
278 |
| Canada |
14 |
| United Kingdom |
8 |
| India |
7 |
| Australia |
4 |
| Austria |
2 |
| Germany |
2 |
| Israel |
1 |
| Japan |
1 |
| Mexico |
1 |
| Unknown |
1 |
Room for More
The 300+ PHT Community is led by about 3% of its membership. Volunteering is a great way to meet your fellow members and get some leadership experience.
PHT would like to reach as many info pros as possible in our industries and support organizations, at any level of job or title. Please, if you know of anyone who may be interested in joining, send him or her to PHT via sla.org or to me.
A Few Words on Organization Types
21 different organization descriptors were assigned to members' companies (see graph):
- "Pharma/biotech company" refers to members working at companies like Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Eli Lilly. There are also labels for companies dealing with animal health or devices too.
- "Pharma services or consulting organization" denotes members working in multi-person organizations that provide services which support pharma/biotech companies; examples: McKinsey, PharmIntell, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and Parexel.
- "Consultant" was assigned to individuals who appear to be working as consultants.
- "Vendor" refers to individuals who work for a vendor, regardless of their role (sales, training, internal info pro).
- A couple of categories were added since my 2019 review: "Student" and "Transitional/unemployed,"
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Susan Gleckner
susan.gleckner@outlook.com------------------------------