CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHEMISTS
EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK
'73
Industry, government, and academic job status. Recruiting activities. Unemployment. 1 0
Areas of opportunities where d e m a n d for chemists and chemical engineers is strong. 12
W h a t chemical professionals are paid. A C&EN special: 1972 ACS starting salary survey. 14
Rundown of college chemistry enrollments, graduations, and short-term predictions.! 8
Latest information on R&D budgets for industry and the Federal Government.! 9
Government programs to generate R&D jobs and retrain technical personnel. 21
Long-term forecast of supply and demand situation for chemists and chemical engineers.23
Employment and career planning aids. Employers directory of chemical professions.24
During the past two years it has been particularly fashionable to talk about the employment outlook for chemists and chemical engineers. Yet the first ACS employment status survey was not undertaken until February 1971, followed by a National Science Foundation survey on the subject a few months later. Prior to that time, hard statistics on employment and on the supply of and demand for chemists and chemical
engineers were as difficult to find as the proverbial key to Fort Knox. Since then, a flood of surveys, reports, articles, and forecasts have appeared relating to employment of chemical professionals. Many of these appeared originally in C&EN; others have been reported by C&EN. Many of the reports have represented conflicting viewpoints. This special is an attempt to pull many of these data
together into one package. It is not meant to be the final, definitive word on all matters relating to the extremely complex picture that is chemical employment. But it is the most wide ranging summary of the data that are available on the subject. But beyond that, C&EN intends this special as a valuable source of career planning aids. It contains the most extensive directory of chemical employers that has
yet appeared in C&EN. Much of the data cited in this issue comes from government sources and from studies conducted by the American Chemical Society. Some of the data are review, some are appearing for the first time in C&EN. In addition, C&EN has conducted its own surveys and in doing so has collected much unique data.
