Attracting, developing, retaining and inspiring talented people is crucial to all aspects of our business. We promote a culture of respect, inclusion and excellence, inspired by Our Credo, so that every individual at J&J can contribute to our shared success for our patients, our customers, our company and each other.
In 2023, our direct global workforce included approximately 134,400 individuals. This includes approximately 18,200 new hires across our different regions, of whom 51% were women.
Employees by region
New hires by region
Employee attraction
Our recruitment efforts include outreach through a wide range of channels and partners to encourage a diverse representation of top qualified candidates. Employee referrals again generated a significant proportion of our hiring efforts, demonstrating employee confidence in J&J as an attractive workplace.
Re-Ignite is J&J’s global career reentry program that offers experienced professionals who have taken a break from their career for 2 or more years the opportunity to return to the workforce with specialized onboarding, networking and development activities. In 2023, we continued to grow Re-Ignite with new hires in Innovative Medicine, MedTech and corporate roles globally, with 135 participants since inception, and introduced new development resources and coaching topics, such as Executive Presence coaching.
In 2023, J&J hired 27 members of the military-connected community through military talent pathways, such as our Military Veteran Leadership Development Program, into a range of leadership, sales and other roles across the company.
We continue to be an employer of choice for the military community with ongoing hiring and development opportunities through our sales and leadership programs and participation in initiatives such as the Department of Defense SkillBridge program, which provides transitioning military service members with civilian work experience during their final 6 months in service. In 2023, we completed our second annual cycle of hiring, during which approximately 90% of SkillBridge interns became J&J full-time employees.
As part of our increasing use of AI to drive healthcare innovation, we have integrated more than 6,000 digital specialists and data scientists in recent years across our organization, providing these colleagues with varied career paths and the chance to use data science, AI and emerging tech for profound impact. Additionally, we are equipping our entire workforce to couple their expertise with an understanding of technology so that employees in all functions can learn to apply technology effectively to advance our mission in healthcare.
Learning and development
We aim to cultivate a mindset and culture of curiosity through ongoing learning and discovery by transforming the way employees find and gain new experiences and skills, and enabling personalized growth that allows people to shine at the right time in their careers. Policies & Positions: Position on Employee Development
Learning and development in 2023 by the numbers
total spend on employee learning and development
cumulative leaders participated in our Enterprise Leader Development Program
of employees completed year-end performance reviews
average training hours per employee
employees in the U.S. and Puerto Rico participated in the tuition reimbursement program
Through J&J Learn, our global AI-powered ecosystem that integrates programs across the Enterprise as a single source for all learning and development needs, we deliver a streamlined learning experience that is easy to access and enables every employee to incorporate learning into their daily practices while creating the career path that is right for them. J&J Learn includes learning programs, facilitates matching with mentors and provides temporary skill-building opportunities as well as holistic career review and development planning tools.
After a year of J&J Learn deployment, we gained valuable insights into learning approaches and work styles at the corporate level and also at the level of individual employees. All employees using J&J Learn can access personalized work-style reports to understand more about the ways in which they can most effectively advance their own learning and development. Significantly, in J&J Learn, the total number of times that an employee marked a specific skill as “Want to learn” amounted to 240,000 in 2023, demonstrating a strong appetite for learning among our employees.
Top skills marked as “Want to learn”
solving
A day of learning
In September 2023, we celebrated an inaugural Global Learning Day, where J&J employees across the globe were invited to dedicate a full day—free of calls and work commitments—to participate in various learning activities and live events powered by J&J Learn to enhance their professional and personal skills. Feedback from recent Our Credo surveys included a clear request from employees for enhanced opportunities to grow and Global Learning Day was in part a response to this request.
Global Learning Day 2023 engaged employees in more than 196,000 hours in 220,000 different J&J Learn sessions on the day and throughout October combined.28
I made sure to sign up for the digital basecamp. I have an interest in technology and I want to keep my digital skills sharp. I also attended a live session focused on Purpose and Career, where employees shared what motivates them at work. Hearing employees’ personal motivation, or why they come to work every day, was the highlight of my day!”
All activities during Global Learning Day were selected to meet three criteria: on demand, mobile-enabled and available in 11 languages. Our Executive Committee members recommended specific learning programs. Employees started the day reflecting on their values, interests and career aspirations through three online exercises. The J&J Learn platform algorithm then recommended a custom learning plan across five areas—leadership, business skills, digital upskilling, DEI and well-being—based on the individual’s areas of interest.
A focus on digital upskilling
Across J&J, there is a keen focus on building digital capabilities. Within J&J Learn, the Digital Upskilling Community helps employees prepare to succeed in our dynamic digital environment. Specifically, after building new knowledge or skills with J&J Learn, employees can engage with real-world scenarios where they can put their skills into practice in their roles at work.
On J&J Global Learning Day, employees prioritized digital and tech topics, with more than 6,700 completions of Gen AI courses alone.
28 Employees who could not participate on the assigned day in September were able to complete Global Learning Day activities throughout the month of October.
