The Chemical world This ween
SIGNS POINT TO IMPROVING JOB MARKET The employment situation is continuing to improve. It still has a way to go in some sections, such as for scientists, before it is again at a satisfactory level. And there is, as yet, no stampede back to the days when employers were seemingly vying for every well qualified scientist and engineer. However, as 1973 opens, evidence from a wide variety of sources indicates that the overall employment trend is definitely upward. According to the latest monthly statistics from the Department of Labor, total nonagricultural employment in this country was 3.7% higher in November 1972 than it was a year earlier. The increase for manufacturing industries was 4.1%. All but four of 21 major manufacturing industry segments showed employment gains over the period. Declines showed only in petroleum and coal products, down 0.2%; food, down 0.7%; leather, down 1.0%; and tobacco, down 5.0%. And over this 12-month period, employment by the chemicals and allied products industry increased by 13,000 to 1,011,000. Department of Labor figures also reveal an improved job picture for what it calls "professional and technical" workers. In November 1971, 2.9% of these workers, or 310,000, were without jobs. By November of last year this rate of unemployment was down to 2.1%, or 232,000. The total number employed in this category has risen about 3% in the past year. A breakout from this category reveals declining unemployment for engineers—3.2% were without jobs in the first quarter of 1971. By the third quarter last year the percentage without jobs was down to 1.8% when the engineering labor force totaled 1,139,000 of whom 20,000 were unemployed. Labor does not make a similar breakout for scientists. The number involved —a total work force of about 220,000—is too small for the department's monthly survey to reveal statistically meaningful data. The improved employment situation for 1973 graduates is outlined in a report by Frank S. Endicott, the former director of placement at Northwestern University. The survey covers the hiring plans of 186 large and medium sized firms. 4
C&EN Jan. 1, 1973
The big increase in jobs will be for engineers. According to the survey, 160 of the companies that hired 2912 B.S. engineering graduates in 1972 plan to hire 4139 in 1973—an increase of 42%. For M.S. engineering graduates, the gain will be 27%— from 429 to 543. These 160 firms plan to hire a total of 13,136 B.S. graduates in 1972, an increase of 19%. They will also hire 2751 M.S. graduates, up 20%. For B.S. chemistry graduates the increase will be particularly sharp—from 66 to 124. Many of the firms indicate they plan to hire more women graduates in 1973. This increased hiring means some increase in recruiting activity. Of the 186 companies in the Endicott survey, 49 plan to contact more colleges this year than they did last, 102 will contact the same number, and 35 will contact fewer. This growing demand for tech-
nical personnel is also reflected in the latest monthly report by Deutsch, Shea & Evans, a New York City manpower agency. The agency's demand index for scientists and engineers, which is based on the volume of help-wanted advertising, recently exceeded 100 for the first time since September 1969. The index, which uses a base of 1961 equals 100, peaked at 190 in 1966 and bottomed out at 42 in 1971. The Aerospace Industries Association of America also has some relatively good news for technical personnel. In its review of 1972 and preview of 1973, the association estimates that industry employment of scientists and engineers was at 157,000 in December 1972, down 2000 from one year earlier. And by June 1973 it will still be at 157,000. This stability compares with a drop from a peak of 235,000 in 1967 to 159,000 by 1971.
GE chemist named to h< ad NBS It's official now, much to the relief of Mrs. Richard W. Roberts. At a recent party in the nation's capital she was introduced as the "wife of the rumor," a reference then to President Nixon's expected naming of her husband as the new director of the National Bureau of Standards. Senate approval of his appointment to succeed Dr. Lewis M. Branscomb should come swiftly for the 37-year-old physical chemist. Now manager of materials science and engineering at General Electric's R&D center in Schenectady, N.Y., Dr. Roberts will take a $36,000 a year post. But the "intrinsically exciting, broader" management job is well worth the sacrifice, he tells C&EN. Dr. Richard W. Roberts
Operating a much tighter budget despite added responsibilities may well be the major problem for NBS this year as elsewhere in the federal bureaucracy. On paper NBS funds total some $100 million for fiscal 1973 but the Nixon Administration will likely withhold sizable sums from the agency. What's more, the NBS staff of 3500 may shrink. An impressive string of technical achievements is credited to Dr. Roberts, both as R&D manager and researcher. Among them: the first gem-quality diamonds from the lab, lubricants and cutting tools for space-age metals, and many new composite materials. Quite naturally, Dr. Roberts will be actively interested in the NBS materials research institute, but won't slight the other three institutes. No stranger to the agency—he was a postdoctoral fellow at NBS after receiving his Ph.D. from Brown University in 1959—Dr. Roberts admits that he has much catching up to do. Until he has run the Congressional gauntlet and has had first-hand experience in the agency's problems, he expects to remain publicly silent on his plans for NBS. And besides severing all ties to GE, his appointment will leave an opening for chairman of ACS Corporation Associates (see page 20).
in Brief: Energy report focuses on consumption Net energy consumption will increase from 57 quadrillion B.t.u. in 1971 to 140 quadrillion B.t.u. in 2000. Conversion losses from generation of electricity and production of synthetic gas, reflecting the increasing trend toward secondary sources of energy, will increase in the same period from 12 quadrillion B.t.u. to 52 quadrillion B.t.u. Thus, gross energy consumption will increase from 69 quadrillion B.t.u. in 1971 to 192 quadrillion B.t.u. in 2000. These are the major findings of a new energy report just issued by the Interior Department. Adding to a pot already brimfull with energy forecast statistics, the new report brings an approach that focuses on consumption rather than demand. In its assumptions, the forecast explicitly takes into account all supply limitations for fuels. In contrast, a recent study by the National Petroleum Council (C&EN, Dec. 18, 1972, page 4) finds that energy demand in 2000 might range between 170 and 215 quadrillion B.t.u. This forecast is based on an intermediate (between best and worst situations) supply in 1985 and a 2.8 to 3.4% growth rate from then until 2000. Among other determinations of the new Interior Department forecast: • Per capita use of electricity will more than quadruple from 1971 to 2000, with total power consumption increasing by about 500%. • Some 5.5 trillion cu. ft. of gas will be made from more than 300 million tons of coal and 100 million barrels of oil in 2000, supplying about 14% of total gaseous fuels. Among assumptions used by Interior in making its forecasts is a population growth rate of about 1%. It assumes a 5% annual growth r&te for industrial production to 1980 and a 4.4% rate thereafter. Lifestyle is assumed to continue the present trend toward a more service oriented economy. As for technology, the major change between now and 1985 assumed in the forecast is development of commercial techniques for coal gasification and liquefaction and control of sulfur oxide emissions. From 1985 to 2000 the major technological change expected is commercial introduction of the breeder reactor.
As 1973 opens, the overall employment trend is upward. Demand for scientists is rising, although it still has some way to go to reach a satisfactory level. (Facing page) Dr. Richard W. Roberts will be the new director of the National Bureau of Standards. A physical chemist, he is now manager of materials science and engineering at GE. (Facing page) Gross energy consumption will almost triple by 2000, according to anew report from the Interior Department. The report focuses on consumption rather than demand. (This page) Chemical industry capital spending will turn up in 1973. U.S. basic chemical producers will spend about 20% more this year than they did in 1972. (Page 7) Many major nonferrous metals are entering much firmer markets than in the past two years. These include steel, nickel, copper, and aluminum. (Page 8) Benzene will continue in very tight supply, and prices of the key chemical will probably rise, a recent study shows. (Page 9) Foreign chemical companies are entering 1973 with new confidence. The new year looks like one of solid gains for Europe. For Japan, it will probably be one of recovery from the recession that hobbled chemical producers in 1972. (Page 10) A plethora of chemical issues confront the new Congress. Among them are trade, energy, R&D budget, pension protection, controls on the economy, and toxic chemicals. (Page 13) Converting solar to electrical energy could be one solution to the critical energy shortage.
The key would be to use the coming space shuttle program to put solar power stations in outer space. (Page 17) New tooth-filling cements may cut need for severe cavity drilling. The cements are aluminosilicate polyacrylates and adhere directly to tooth surfaces. (Page 18) Another shift in raw material base—from ethylene to ethane— may be beginning in petrochemical technology. (Page 18) Newspapers may begin carrying a college course weekly this fall. The course, on "America and the Future of Man," has been developed by the University of California, San Diego, (Page 19) U.S.S.R. has stripped Dr. Valery N. Chalidze of his citizenship and has barred his return to the Soviet Union, in an apparent move to snuff out dissent among its intellectuals. (Page 19) The many facets of industrygovernment relations on R&D was the topic of the annual meeting of the ACS Corporation Associates. (Page 20)
Chemical & Engineering News January 1,1973 Volume 51, Number 1 1 4
The President's Message The Chemical World This Week
6 16
Concentrates Industry/Government/International Science/Education/Technology
7 10 13 17 19 20 32 32
The Departments Industry/Business International Government Technology Education ACS News/People Newscripts Letters Cover design: Norman Favin
Jan. 1, 1973 C&EN 5
