EMPLOYMENT & SALARY SURVEY

WHAT HAPPENED to the employment situation and salaries of chemists during the 12 months ending March 1, 2007, was not spectacular. But it was positive. According to the American Chemical Society’s latest annual survey of its members in the domestic workforce, 92.3% were employed full-time on that date, 3.6% were working part-time, 1.7% were on postdocs or fellowships, and 2.4% were unemployed but actively seeking employment. The survey put the total of those with other than a full-time job at 7.7%. This was down from the all-time high of 9.2% in 2005, but it was still considerably higher than the recent low of 5.4% in 2001. The 2.4% unemployment rate for 2007 was the lowest since 2001, when it had been 1.5%. The median salary for all respondents to the 2007 survey as a group paced inflation with a 3.5% increase to $88,000 from the median of $85,000 from the year-earlier survey. The median 2007 ...