Ryan Arthur was making a fine salary. He had great benefits. And the market research consulting firm that employed him was very pleased with his work.
But during the pandemic, Arthur began a very targeted job search that had little to do with financial considerations. The 28-year-old Manhattan resident went hunting for a job that would be more personally satisfying, focusing on the pharmaceutical industry—and he found it at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he is now a customer- and market-insight manager in the oncology division.
“I wanted to pick what I’m working on and stay connected to the mission of the work,” he says. “I know that sounds hokey, but it’s very real to my generation that improving the lives of others matters.”
That’s not the end of the story. For Arthur—and for an American workforce emotionally whipsawed by the pandemic—it may be just the beginning. For Arthur to remain happy with any employer, he says he requires a new on-the-job challenge roughly every two years.
“The onus of where loyalty comes from has completely shifted,” says Arthur, who is ecstatic to feel personally fulfilled by his work as part of a market research team that communicates with doctors and consumers about the pharmaceutical giant’s latest drug for treating melanoma. “It’s not employees that have to prove their loyalty anymore—it’s the employers.”
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