The people who work in the chemical sciences are of central importance to our society, developing solutions to the challenges we face, across a range of disciplines including health, environment, energy and net zero, education and manufacturing. One of our roles is to understand the people making up the chemical science workforce, the skills they employ in their work, and, crucially, how these may change in the future so that we can offer the best support to our members and the wider community, as well as advocating effectively for the discipline.
In our 2021-25 Strategy, we set out the Future Workforce and Educational Pathways project – which gave us a view of what the future may bring for the chemical sciences.
In the first of our outputs from the first stage of the project, we welcome this detailed data report from our project partner, Lightcast. It builds on our Chemistry’s Contribution research from 2020, this time focusing in on the skills these workers possess, and employers seek, giving us a rich picture of the industries chemical scientists are working in and the roles they occupy.
This report has given us the most detailed picture yet of the roles where chemical science is making an impact in the UK, either directly or through providing advice and understanding, and informs our understanding of how that may develop in future.
The final report including insights from the chemistry community is expected to be published summer 2024. Read our related work carried out in 2020.