Reinventing Manufacturing

California’s Shifting Landscape: Manufacturing and the Innovation Ecosystem
Growth in the Long Term,
1990–2014
Since 1990, Pharmaceutical & Medicine Manufacturing
has witnessed the strongest employment growth of any
manufacturing sector in California. From 1990 to 2014,
jobs expanded by 83.8 percent, while the state’s total
manufacturing employment declined by 39.5 percent.
Within this sector, the Pharmaceutical Preparation
subsector accounted for the largest employment share
with 33,482 jobs in 2014 and 71.4 percent of Pharmaceutical
& Medicine Manufacturing employment in
California. Between 1990 and 2014, Pharmaceutical
Preparation jobs expanded by 85.5 percent. During the
same period, employment grew by 203.0 percent in
In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (with a net
gain of 4,164 jobs) and 130.4 percent in Medicinal &
Botanical Manufacturing (with a net gain of 2,497 jobs).
Only Biological Product Manufacturing experienced job
losses, with employment declining by 20.7 percent since
1990. (In comparison, all four subsectors experienced
growth in the recent time period from 2010–2014, with
Medicinal & Botanical Manufacturing showing the most
significant gains, expanding by 88.9 percent.)
In terms of establishment growth, Pharmaceutical &
Medicine Manufacturing firms increased in number by
60.6 percent between 1990 and 2014. Pharmaceutical
Preparation was responsible for 70.0 percent of
this growth, expanding by 89.6 percent and adding
112 establishments. The number of firms in Medicinal
& Botanical Manufacturing reached an all-time high in
2014, expanding by 115.4 percent between 1990 and
2014 to a total of 84 manufacturing establishments.
Second only to Pharmaceutical & Medical Manufacturing,
California’s employment in Beverage Manufacturing
increased by 46.6 percent in the long term, 1990–2014.
Wineries drove much of that job growth within the
sector, expanding by 121.3 percent between 1990 and
2014. Employment in Breweries was robust, expanding
by 43.8 percent over the 1990–2014 period.
The Wineries, Breweries and Soft Drink & Ice Manufacturing
subsectors together saw establishment growth
between 1990 and 2014, and all three subsectors experienced
significant establishment growth since 2010.
Though still a relatively small share of overall establishments
in Beverage Manufacturing, the number of
Breweries grew from 22 in 1990 to 169 in 2014, with
the fastest growth occurring since 2010 with an increase
from 37 establishments to the 169 total.
Since 1990, employment in Medical Equipment &
Supplies Manufacturing increased by 19.4 percent,
peaking in 2014 with 53,922 jobs. This growth
was driven by the Surgical & Medical Instrument
Manufacturing subsector, which expanded by 61.9
percent, with a net gain of 9,852 jobs between 1990
and 2014. Dental Laboratories were not far behind
however, expanding by 57.7 percent with a net gain of
3,098 jobs. In contrast, employment in two of the subsectors—Surgical
Appliance & Supplies Manufacturing
and Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing—contracted by
6.8 and 33.4 percent respectively.
While Dental Laboratories made up 54.2 percent of the
1,638 establishments in Medical Equipment & Supplies
Manufacturing in 2014, establishment growth in the
sector since 1990 was driven by the Surgical & Medical
Instrument Manufacturing subsector, which expanded
by 13.8 percent between 1990 and 2014, with a net
gain of 33 establishments. (The number of Dental
Laboratory establishments contracted by 19.8 percent
between 1990 and 2014.)
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