Rainer Salzer, European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) and TU Dresden, Germany, and colleagues have published the results of the first European employment survey for chemists and chemical engineers. 4440 European chemists and chemical engineers, 90 % of them employed, responded to the questionnaire which was offered in 24 languages.
The survey included questions about education, employment, and salary and provides insights into which chemical sub-discipline offers the most jobs, in which country chemists most quickly get a job, and where a chemist is likely to earn the highest salary.
Almost 20 % of all graduates of the last 15 years chose chemical engineering as the discipline for their highest qualification, followed by organic and analytical chemistry. The most frequently acquired degree in Europe is the doctoral degree (44 %). 77 % of all respondents found their job immediately after graduation; approx. one third started in a permanent position. The dominating employer sector for chemists and chemical engineers in Europe is the manufacturing industry; 32 % of all respondents work there. This is followed by research institutes (19 %) and the non-manufacturing industry.
The Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission developed the questionnaire and collected the data. The ECTN executed it with support from the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS), the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), and the European Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Education Network (EC2E2N2).
- The Professional Status of European Chemists and Chemical Engineers,
Reiner Salzer, Philip Taylor, Nineta H. Majcen, Francesco De Angelis, Sophie Wilmet, Evangelia Varella, Ionnis Kozaris,
Chem. Eur. J. 2015.
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201501364
