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“The level of experience needed varies with the job opening,” he adds. The company is focusing on chemists with backgrounds in organic chemistry and polymer chemistry, scientists with synthesis skills, and analytical and materials chemists and biochemists. DuPont also has increased its recruiting of chemical engineers, “particularly those with interdisciplinary skills and those with process development skills.” Dow is more optimistic. “Overall, the job market appears to be strong, with more companies hiring more graduates than in the previous couple of years,” says Sarah Kok, workforce planning specialist for Dow. “Some companies have announced extremely large recruiting goals. “This is a good year to be graduating with chemistry and chemical engineering degrees,” she adds. “There are specific business segments that are experiencing significant growth, and they will need engineers to support that growth.” Dow plans to recruit heavily to meet booming business needs. “Our needs in 2006 are higher due to business growth and also expected attrition in the next several years,” Kok says. The company will be hiring mostly bachelor’s-level scientists, but it will remain on the lookout for a “fair number” of candidates with graduate degrees, as well as some scientists with work experience. Traditional chemical companies, however, are responsible for only a small portion of chemical hiring. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies remain the strongest sectors hiring chemists, even as the segment faces public controversy and increasing pressure to cut costs. But reports from pharmaceutical representatives this year are also mixed. “My assessment is that it is a somewhat below-average job market for new graduates,” says Hans Maag, vice president of chemistry for Roche Palo Alto. “It’s very uneven in terms of which companies are hiring and not hiring. “Company visits on average are down,” he adds. “It’s very clear that some companies that have routinely visited schools have not gone this year.” But Roche is hiring at a slightly higher level than it has averaged over the past several years, Maag says. “We are part of a multinational company. Roche is doing quite well in the industry, so our situation has not been affected much” by highprofile controversies in pharmaceuticals, he says. “We have been well-insulated from these kinds of events.” COVER STORY In particular, the firm is looking for medicinal chemists and process chemists, both at the Ph.D. and the bachelor’s/master’s level. Like most pharmaceutical companies, Roche is looking for candidates with extensive training in synthetic organic chemistry. But hiring is slightly down from last year, he says, which “was an exceptional year for us.” Pfizer echoes many of those sentiments. “I would classify this year as being fairly similar to last year,” says Brian S. Bronk, director of medicinal chemistry in neurosciences at the company and head of the Ph.D.-level organic chemistry recruiting efforts in the U.S. for Pfizer Global Research & Development. “But I also see signs that it’ll be leaner than last year—overall demand is not as high as it was. “WHAT’S CHANGED is demand from major pharma,” he adds. Whereas before, a single company would have upward of 10 openings, openings are now spread out over more firms, and candidates will have to work harder to secure positions. Still, “there are opportunities for qualified candidates,” he says. “It just requires more effort and diligence.” Pfizer, he says, has a “small number of openings for chemists at all levels—bach- HELP WANTED Academic job postings in C&EN jump, but industrial openings remain low Volume of “positions open” advertising, column-inchesa 1,200 Academic 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 2002 2003 2004 Volume of “positions open” advertising, column-inchesa 2005 800 Nonacademic 600 400 200 0 2002 2003 a Column-inches published during consecutive periods of four weeks each. elor’s, master’s, Ph.D.s, and postdocs.” For Ph.D.s, the company is looking for scientists with strong synthetic organic chemistry CHEMICAL ENGINEERS Downward trend in number of degrees continues at all levels BACHELOR’S MASTER’S PH.D. 1982–83 7,185 1,368 692 1983–84 7,475 1,514 409 1984–85 7,146 1,544 504 1985–86 5,877 1,361 531 1986–87 4,991 1,184 584 1987–88 3,917 1,088 685 1988–89 3,663 1,093 712 1989–90 3,430 1,035 658 1990–91 3,444 903 691 1991–92 3,754 956 725 1992–93 4,459 990 737 1993–94 5,163 1,032 725 1994–95 5,901 1,085 708 1995–96 6,319 1,176 798 1996–97 6,564 1,131 767 1997–98 6,319 1,128 776 1998–99 6,033 1,130 674 1999–00 5,807 1,078 725 2000–01 5,611 1,083 728 2001–02 5,462 973 705 2002–03 na na 643 NOTE: Data were collected from degree-granting institutions. na = not available. SOURCES: National Center for Education Statistics, National Science Foundation backgrounds, while extensive research and lab experience are essential for B.S.- and M.S.-level candidates. Bronk believes candidates looking for jobs in the pharmaceutical industry need to be flexible and adaptable. “The pharmaceutical industry is facing a new set of challenges,” he says. “Opportunities are still going to be there, but the opportunities are going to be in a much more dynamic environment and industry than it used to be. The pace of change strikes me as different than before.” At AstraZeneca’s Boston site, “we will continue our recruiting effort, at all levels—Ph.D., bachelor’s, and master’s,” says John Primeau, director and head of infection chemistry at AstraZeneca R&D Boston. “It will likely be a similar level of recruiting as last year.” The company has settled into a modest growth pattern after rapidly expanding some of its core chemistry groups, such as those focusing on infection and cancer, earlier in the decade. “We’re growing more slowly now,” Primeau says, at about 6–7% a year. The company is looking for synthetic medicinal chemists, analytical chemists, informaticians, and computational chemists 3 6 C & E N / N O V E M B E R 7 , 2 0 0 5 W W W . C E N – O N L I N E . O R G 2004 2005
at a range of levels, including some right out of school and others with experience. Typically, Primeau adds, AstraZeneca conducts much of its hiring locally, in the Boston area. “There’s pretty strong competition for talent with other pharmaceutical companies in the area,” he says. “That’s very good for candidates.” But he adds that he has seen some downsizing locally as well. Novartis also has a pessimistic take on hiring. “My impression is that this will be a tight recruiting year. There aren’t as many jobs around as in the recent past,” says Scott Biller, head of global discovery chemistry for the company. “I’ve even heard of other companies reducing staff. That’s the general tenor in the pharmaceutical industry.” At Novartis, hiring will be “comparable to last year,” he says. “We’ve been growing our chemistry at a steady pace since I came to the company in 2003, and we’ll at least continue that in 2005–06.” The company is looking to hire scientists at all levels, though Ph.D.s with postdocs are preferred. And “we plan to increase our experience base by also hiring some people with pharmaceutical company experience,” Biller adds. In particular, the company is looking for scientists with synthetic organic and bioorganic backgrounds who can apply their skills to drug discovery. They also need some computational chemists. Bristol-Myers Squibb is also not hopeful. “In pharma in general, research budgets aren’t growing at the same rate that they used to,” says Carl P. Decicco, vice president of discovery chemistry. “There are probably fewer jobs available in the industry this year than previous years, but I can’t say that for certain. The number of companies recruiting seems to be a little down.” He points to a number of factors that have contributed to the slowdown, including the rapid consolidation the industry has seen recently. “Organizations are trying to make strategic decisions on how big their research groups should be,” he says. “It’ll take some time to work through, so they’ll be a little careful and hesitant doing too much at this point.” Bristol-Myers Squibb will be hiring at roughly the same rate as it did the previous two years, with a number of positions available in both its discovery and process chemistry groups, he says. Though it’s still early, he adds that he is “very pleased at the number of extremely qualified candidates he’s seen at the Ph.D. and postdoctoral level.” “THE INDUSTRY is very cyclical,” Decicco says. “There’s a trend where there’s not a lot of growth right now. That’s likely to change as the pipeline delivers and there is a reinvestment in research.” Still, he adds, “there will always be a demand for highly skilled synthetic organic chemists in drug development and research.” The pharmaceutical industry’s challenges are also affecting associated companies, such as contract research firms. “Things are not JOB HUNT WOES Number of job openings and employers at ACS’s national meeting employment centers has plummeted TOTAL CANDIDATES EMPLOYERS POTENTIAL OPENINGS as rosy as they were a year ago,” says Alexander Chucholowski, vice president for chemistry at ChemBridge Research Laboratories. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in our business and the whole area we’re working in. “We are providers to the pharmaceutical industry. If it is hurting, we are hurting,” he adds. “And it’s very difficult for contract research organizations operating in the U.S. That’s reflective of the pharma industry in general. The industry has problems, and it’s trying to save money wherever possible, such as sending research overseas. Offshoring is the biggest threat to us.” For those reasons, ChemBridge is being especially careful in its hiring plans this year. “In previous years, we hired with the expectation that new business would appear,” he says. “We will be much more cautious this year.” The company is looking for new chemists on a case-by-case basis, at all levels. “But it’s easier to find qualified Ph.D.s than it is to find well-trained bachelor’s- and master’slevel candidates,” Chucholowski says. Most of the Ph.D.s Chembridge hires—upward of 80%—have postdocs, he adds. Chucholowski is not completely pessimistic about the industry, though. “Recently I have seen more start-up and biotech companies getting financing. We hope we’ll see some improvement in business from this, but we’re not sure,” he says. Still, “if the situation improves, it will take some time to improve.” One counterpoint to the modest hiring plans of many pharmaceutical companies is Gilead Sciences. “As a company, we are rapidly growing,” says Norbert W. Bischofberger, executive vice president of research and development. “We’re investing a lot of money into research, discovery, and development.” In fact, he adds, “one interesting challenge we’re facing is that hiring takes time.” Because the company can only interview a limited number of chemists, and integrating new hires into the team-based setting of drug discovery takes a while, “there’s a limit on just how many people you can bring onboard in one year.” The company continues to look for chemists, biochemists, molecular biologists, and analytical chemists for drug discovery, process chemistry, and analytical formulation. Synthetic organic chemists are especially important, Bischofberger says. “They are the bread and butter of the pharmaceutical industry.” He adds that Gilead is seeking, to a lesser extent, chemical engineers. Gilead has also had trouble attracting good bachelor’s- and master’s-level chemists. “We’re very interested in finding good candidates,” he says, “but we have found it a little more challenging.” But Bischofberger tempers his company’s hiring plans with a warning. “There are a lot of changes going on, with the potential to affect very greatly the future of the pharmaceutical industry,” he says. “It’s a changing environment and political landscape, and that will affect how much the pharmaceu- INTERVIEWS SCHEDULED 2000 San Francisco 1,052 169 1,069 3,367 Washington, D.C. 1,057 156 1,616 3,479 2001 San Diego 897 209 1,429 4,299 Chicago 1,112 169 1,392 4,377 2002 Orlando 867 131 436 3,146 Boston 1,231 137 521 4,688 2003 New Orleans 1,151 96 305 1,751 a New York City 1,374 97 291 1,673 a 2004 Anaheim 1,281 121 271 1,605 a Philadelphia b 1,494 107 303 1,602 a 2005 San Diego 1,296 88 189 1,291 a Washington, D.C. 1,927 97 289 1,685 a a Figures for interviews scheduled may not be comparable with previous years’ because of implementation of a computerized registration and communication system. b The National Employment Clearing House officially became the Chemjobs Career Center beginning with the Philadelphia meeting. SOURCES: American Chemical Society Department of Career Services, Chemjobs Career Center W W W . C E N – O N L I N E . O R G C & E N / N O V E M B E R 7 , 2 0 0 5 3 7
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