ACS Survey: Chemistry Salary Increases Sink To Lowest Point In 10-Year Period

Some chemists getting ready to attend the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), to take place in Anaheim, Calif., April 2-6, undoubtedly are preoccupied by personal concerns: According to a recently released ACS survey, salary increases for those working in the field during the 12-month period that ended March 1, 1994, were the lowest in a decade. And those in a position to receive these meager pay raises are the lucky ones--in the year studied, the survey found, chemistry unemployment reached a 22-year high. The findings underscore that "there's still a lot of trimming going on in the chemical industry, and it's just starting to hit the pharmaceutical industry," says Corinne Marasco, a senior research associate at ACS. "The basic chemical companies have been hurt by worldwide overcapacity. It's a mature industry, and there's no longer the tremendous growth associated with the postwar period. And so there's less capital for R&D." The Washington, D.C.-based society queried its nearly 150,000 members in industry, government, and academia, as it does every year, and received approximately 9,700 responses. Among the respondents, about 62 percent were from industry; 24 percent from academia; and 8 percent from government. The survey found that median salaries for Ph.D. chemists rose 3.5 percent, to $65,000, a slight increase over the Consumer Price Index (CPI)--an indicator of inflation--which was 2.5 percent during the same time. But for others, salaries slumped even farther behind inflation. The median pay for chemists holding a master's degree rose only 1 percent, to $52,000. The median increase for chemists with a bachelor's degree was 1.8 percent, to $44,300. Measured in constant dollars--a method of factoring in the effects of inflation over time--the figures were even worse. For example, the 1993-94 Ph.D. salary increase was only 1 percent over 1992-93. And M.S. chemists actually saw their average salaries drop in 1993-94, down 1.5 percent in constant dollars from 1992-93. For many chemists, another, more disturbing finding of the study was the relatively high overall unemployment rate in 1993-94 of 2.6 percent, up from 2 percent in 1992-93. Although it is true that the 1993-94 rate was well below the national average, which hovers at around 7 percent, chemistry unemployment was the highest since 1972. B.S. and M.S. chemists suffered 3.1 percent unemployment, while Ph.D. chemists experienced a 2.4 percent rate. The survey revealed that the latest figures represent a significant decline compared with salary increases over the past decade, which averaged about 5.5 percent a year, in today's dollars, for M.S. and Ph.D. chemists. For B.S. chemists, the average increase has been 4 percent annually. Furthermore, about 20 percent of all chemists received no raise between March 1993 and March 1994, and 30 percent had raises of 2.5 percent or less, a percentage equal to or smaller than the 2.5 percent CPI at the time. Overall, the median raise was 4 percent. In industry, younger chemists received higher raises in 1993- 94. The median increase for 20- to 29-year-olds was 4.6 percent, compared with 3 percent for those 60 to 69 years old. The mean pay raise for all ages was 4.7 percent, down from 5.2 percent in 1992-93. "It's a supply-and-demand issue," says James Burke, manager of research staffing and university relations for Rohm and Haas Co. in Springhouse, Pa. "At least there's a perception among employers that it's a buyer's market." The dampened salaries, Burke points out, reflect an endeavor among many large companies to create a level playing field for employees by not offering starting pay to newcomers that would be more than the salaries given to veterans. "There's an effort to establish a flat rate, so that everybody starts at the same scale and no bias is built in," he explains. "And what's going on is that raises in many companies have been linked to the Consumer Price Index." In academia, salaries were generally higher for full professors in all types of institutions; chemistry faculty at all levels in public institutions and departments granting Ph.D.'s; and those in research as opposed to teaching. However, while pay was higher for chemistry faculty in Ph.D.-granting departments in public as opposed to private schools, in departments granting undergraduate degrees only, the situation was reversed--faculty in private schools made more than those in public schools. For assistant and associate professors, length of experience made little difference as far as salary was concerned, the survey found. To cite one example, the median salary for Ph.D. assistant professors with two to four years' experience was $34,500, while the median for Ph.D. assistant professors with 10 to 14 years' experience was only $35,000. For full professors in non-Ph.D.-granting departments, salaries did rise with increasing experience. For example, the median for full professors with five to nine years' experience was $40,000; it was $50,000 for full professors with 15 to 19 years' experience. Observers of the field say that global competition, mergers and acquisitions, and concern over health-care reform all prompted cost-cutting that has eliminated some jobs or at least stanched hiring plans. "The little hiring that's done seems to be of younger, lower- paid replacements [for those who leave through retirement or for other reasons]," Marasco notes. Indeed, older chemists were hit particularly hard by high unemployment, the survey found. Those 50 years of age or older were given pink slips at a 3.5 percent rate, compared with only 2.1 percent for those less than 40 years old. In addition, Marasco says, "The smaller companies are more likely to hire, because the larger companies are making do with less people." Unemployment was highest among those chemists specializing in marketing, production, and lab analysis--such as hospital or environmental lab workers. It was lowest among chemists in basic research. The area of lab analysis was highest of all, with a 5.9 percent unemployment rate. A contributing factor to this sector's woes, according to some scientists, is automation. As technology improves, many laboratories--especially those that are doing more contract work--are using instrumentation instead of people to perform various tests and evaluations. "In our industry, automation is the No. 1 issue. It's faster, cheaper, and better," comments Carol Hess, an executive vice president of Lancaster Laboratories Inc. in Lancaster, Pa., which concentrates on environmental and pharmaceutical work. "You don't always need degreed chemists to do some of the work, because you don't always need to understand all the chemistry going on to complete the analysis. Instrumentation does some of that." Unemployment among academic and government chemists was lower in 1993-94 than in the previous year. For those in academia, the unemployment rate was 1.4 percent; it was 0.8 percent for government chemists. A contributing factor to overall unemployment among chemists, according to those interviewed for this article, was the continued stream of new graduates, a trend that persists despite the lack of jobs. The report also revealed a gender gap in both industry and academia. The median salary for women Ph.D.'s in industry was 83 percent of that for men. In part, the difference can be attributed to job responsibility. For example, the study found that only 13 percent of Ph.D. women in industry were in R&D management, as opposed to 24 percent of Ph.D. men. While the median salary for industry women with 15 to 19 years' experience was 98 percent of the figure for comparable men, the gap widened with increased experience. Among academic chemists, the difference in median salaries for men and women was attributable partially to differences in rank and partially to differences in type of school. For example, 54 percent of male chemists in academia were full professors, compared with 47 percent of women. Fifty-six percent of academic male chemists were employed in Ph.D.-granting schools, compared with 26 percent of women. Within Ph.D.-granting schools, the median salary for female full professors was 88 percent of the pay for their male counterparts. Female assistant and associate professors at Ph.D.-granting schools earned 98 percent and 92 percent, respectively, of their male counterparts' salaries. The immediate outlook for increased job opportunities and large pay increases is dim in most areas, chemists believe. "You can still get a job in industry, but it requires a lot of creativity and research to know where you want to work and how your skills fit in," says Marasco. However, in contrast to the gloomy job picture presented in this survey, respondents to another ACS study conducted late last year identified six areas with long-term growth prospects: biotechnology, environmental chemistry, information technologies, catalysis, materials science, and energy. "These are hot areas," Marasco acknowledges. "In one way or another, [they] affect chemistry, chemists, and the way chemists work." She cites some examples: "Catalysis improves efficiency in industry. Materials science [involves] the reuse of existing materials. We have government and social regulations driving [environmental] issues. In biotech, the applications are so broad--there's health care, plants, food, waste remediation. It's a broad marketplace. "It's not entirely here yet, but the [job] growth in these areas is coming." Edward R. Silverman is a freelance writer based in Millburn, N.J.

ACS Survey: Chemistry Salary Increases Sink To Lowest Point In 10-Year Period

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March 1995

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