19% unemployment for Chem grads

College Majors Science Majors
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<p>Here is the discussion on the employment stats for Chemists from ACS.</p>

<p>Chemjobber:</a> Well, that's not good news</p>

<p>15% flat out unemployment for BS grads and 19% for MS grads and that has some serious positive spin on it.</p>

<p>Only 29% of BS grads and 38% of MS grads are employed full time. Most of the rest are in "further studies." </p>

<p>Salary stats are still inflated but $35k for BS grads and $49k for MS grads.</p>

<p>Bottom line, you would have to be insane to pursue a chemistry degree. I can't imagine Biology is any better.</p>

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<p>Here is the Berkeley career center’s survey by major:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Note that physics, applied math, and statistics majors do considerably better than chemistry and biology majors. Biology is probably flooded by pre-meds who did not get into medical school.</p>

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<p>Not sure why this surprises anyone. The operative degree for a job in Chemistry is a Ph.D, not a B.S. or an M.S… Notice how the unemployment rate for Ph.D.'s is much lower.</p>

<p>Looking for a Chemistry job with a B.S. in Chem is like looking for an accounting job with an Associate’s degree in it. Getting an Associate’s in accounting doesn’t make you an accountant - you need a Master’s (CPA). Similarly, getting a B.S. in Chemistry doesn’t make you a chemist - you need a Ph.D. if you expect to find a job in the field.</p>

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<p>LOL, the ACS data is worthless. Not all chemists belong to the ACS, and not even all ACS members responds to such polls. Unemployment for chemists is probably much worse. ACS data also says nothing about the status of full time positions. They could very well be temp jobs.</p>

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<p>This is completely false. Have you even ever worked in the chemical industry? Apparently not.</p>

<p>PhD employment stats may look prettier, but again ACS data don’t report how many PhDs are doing post docs vs. PhDs who are actually REALLY employed. I hardly call a PhD hopelessly hopping around from post doc to post doc “full time employed”. Only 35% of ACS members even respond to ACS employment/salary surveys, and like I said before, not all chemists even belong to the ACS. The ACS surveys also don’t even report U-6 type employment data which would really give you a truer picture of what the employment situation in the industry really looks like.</p>

<p>The chemical industry is in a race to the bottom: lay off as many people as possible until only a skeleton crew is left. Create a huge pool of unemployed scientists (with M.S.'s and Ph.D’s) on the job market, and then hire them back as low-paid temps to fill work that would have been filled by a B.S. or even a high school diploma before 2007. That way, they have no commitment to the employee and can dispose of them and replace them as easy as they hire them.</p>

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<p>I for one am not an ACS member and wouldn’t give them a dime. I don’t support their spin and happy face propaganda about the field. I further believe they support industry heads and academia rather than the best interests of working or seeking work chemists.</p>