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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | NOVEMBER 13, 2017
“You wonder how things would be if there weren’t those mass layoffs.” —Brenda Case, special projects manager, Leadership Alliance
Philip Skinner has found happiness again in his career.
chemists like Case were forced to leave the bench. Nevertheless, many still consider themselves to be chemists. The nursing graduate, for example, says she hopes that after starting work as a nurse she will be able to teach chemistry part-time at a community college. Economies are cyclical, and recessions are unavoidable, so it’s important to be prepared, says Ohio State’s Kothandaraman. “Anticipating that these things can take place is extremely critical to positioning yourself for making the next move,” he says, Kothandaraman recommends that chemists continue to develop skills and maintain their networks. And who knows—the path they end up taking might just be the one they like best. “The scars are still there from the layoff, but I’m really enjoying this,” says Skinner of his job at PerkinElmer. “I didn’t make it back; I made it to a new place.” ◾
CR E DI T: CO U RT ESY O F P H I L I P SK I N N E R
he says. He remains optimistic that he will eventually find his way back. “The front door is locked, so now you find back doors or side doors, or move on.” A woman who graduated with an M.S. in chemistry from a western university around the time of the recession recalls the difficulty of finding work as a new graduate. The woman, who did not want to be identified by name so that her job prospects would not be affected, was unemployed for two-and-a-half years, she says, and heartbroken at being unable to find work in a field she was passionate about. But she had to pay the bills, including student loans, so she worked at a hotel chain before deciding to return to school for a nursing degree. Now that the woman has graduated and obtained her nursing license in two states, she has the luxury of choosing among four job offers. Some chemists question whether they should encourage young people to go into the sciences when their journeys have been so difficult. “It’s kind of hard to encourage kids I know who want to go into science, which is terrible because it’s a great field, and we need scientists,” Case says. “But when they ask for my experience, I have to be honest.” Many
