The Latest Technician Employment Numbers

According to the 2004–05 edition of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, science technicians held about 208,000 jobs in 2002. Chemical technicians accounted for 69,000 of those jobs, followed by biological technicians, who held 48,000 jobs. Other technician jobs tabulated by BLS are environmental science and protection technicians (including health) (28,000); agricultural and food science technicians (20,000); forest and conservation technicians (19,000); geological and petroleum technicians (11,000); forensic science technicians (8,400); and nuclear technicians (5,700).

Looking at employment by industry, chemical technician jobs can be found in a range of manufacturing and service industries; 26,000 of those jobs are in chemical manufacturing with another 17,000 in the professional, scientific, and technical services sector. The professional, scientific, and technical services sector provides services for anyone who needs them, including scientific research and development services. About 17,000 biological technician jobs are in professional, scientific, and technical services firms, but those jobs are also found in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing and in federal, state, and local government. About one-fifth of agricultural and food science technicians are in food processing companies while the rest work primarily for scientific research and development services firms and state governments. More than a fifth of geological and petroleum technicians work for oil and gas extraction companies, while forensic science technicians work primarily for state and local governments. Environmental science technicians are found in government and professional, scientific, and technical services firms.

According to BLS, employment growth of science technicians in general is projected to increase as fast as the average—approximately 15% through 2012—when compared with all other jobs. The continued growth in medical research is expected to fuel demand for science technicians in many industries, although which technician jobs are growing depends on the specialization.

Biological technician jobs are expected to grow because the growth in agricultural and medicinal products developed through biotechnology will increase demand for these workers. Demand will also be stimulated by competition among pharmaceutical companies and by an aging population that will drive medical research in innovative and improved drugs. BLS expects that the fastest growth of biological technician jobs will be found in the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry and scientific R&D firms.

The BLS projections dont look so optimistic for chemical technicians through 2012; their job growth is projected to grow more slowly than average, at around 5%. The chemical manufacturing industry is projected to decline as a result of downsizing and use of external contractors to provide specialized services. Again, job opportunities are expected to be found in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing. Process technicians will also be in demand in this industry because of an increasing focus on quality assurance.

For other technician specializations, BLS projects that environmental science and protection technicians will see growth that is much faster than average to help with environmental analysis and monitoring. Agricultural and food science technician employment growth is expected to be slower than average because of limited growth in the agriculture and food processing industry, but opportunities will likely be available in agricultural biotechnological research, for example. Forensic science technician jobs are expected to increase about as fast as average; low numbers of qualified applicants may improve these technicians job prospects. Opportunities for job growth will be accompanied by the need to replace technicians who retire or leave the workforce for other reasons.

Globalization is expected to have some impact on technicians employment prospects. As the industries that technicians support are moved offshore, their positions will be affected, as will those ofotherchemical professionals, says John Engelman, of S. C. Johnson & Son, Racine, Wis. The emphasis of technicians positions will shift from commodities to specialties, as other positions have. We will become a country of intellectual property growth, and we must help protect that asset. As the methods of developing new products and processes change, the responsibilities and range of technicians jobs will change. So one opportunity may disappear as another appears elsewhere.