Innovation begets jobs — just ask anybody in Silicon Valley about that, or any of the numerous communities springing up around the world, where engineers and chemists and other scientific professionals are applying themselves daily to the task of making better products and breakthrough strides in our knowledge of how they work.
A recent study by the American Chemical Society just reinforces that home truth as it says it’s economically imperative for the domestic chemical industry to drive innovation and entrepreneurship. It says the industry should re-direct itself and focus on helping startups and entrepreneur firms fill the need for innovation that will drive more jobs in the future.
It’s unfortunate, but there’s been a steady decline in the number of jobs for chemists over the past two decades, and it’s the ACS’ contention that an emphasis on grassroots-level innovation will help stem those losses. This doesn’t mean that big chemical companies are in the wrong in any way — they’re subject to the same competition and economic realities we all are. We’re sure they’d agree that more competition and innovation, not less, is one route back to a healthier domestic job market for chemistry professionals.
George Whitesides, chairman of the ACS Task Force and a Harvard University professor, said that if the recommendations of the report are followed, it has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. chemical industry over the next 20 years.
