The American Chemical Society today recommended the restructuring of the U.S. chemical industry to halt job loss and to create new products which would fuel job growth.
According to the ACS, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that in the past 20 years approximately 300,000 full-time chemist jobs in the U.S were eliminated.
Since 2008 alone, nearly 25,000 jobs – including in research and development – have been lost in U.S. chemical manufacturing companies and layoffs continue, the group said.
In a report called “Innovation, Chemistry and Jobs” released today at the ACS’s national convention in Denver, the ACS details how the job loss trend can be stopped by structural changes in the industry.
ACS said what is needed is a shift from a historically commodity-based industry to a “highly productive engine” capitalizing on scientific innovations by entrepreneurs.
The report said chemical entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned to take “high-value” innovations and commercialize new products and processes which will greatly stimulate economic productivity and create jobs.
“In this report, ACS calls for a return to greater entrepreneurship to stimulate economic growth through the commercialization of ideas,” said ACS executive director and chief executive Madeleine Jacobs. “The chemical enterprise is one of our nation’s most valuable economic sectors and holds the keys to solving some of our most pressing challenges in areas of food quality, energy self-sufficiency, healthcare and environmental sustainability.”
The ACS says no single factor is responsible for the loss of jobs.
But it says higher input costs, shrinking margins of larger companies and growing aversion to the risks and costs of investment in longer-term R&D appear to play significant roles.
While the chemical industry grew rapidly in the first half of the 20th century driven by innovative processes and products, peaking in the 1960s, the ACS said chemical innovation has since declined.
It noted that chemical companies with more than 500 employees are hiring significantly fewer new graduates than in the past, while small businesses are hiring more, but at a slower rate.
In asking for a shift from a commodity-based industry to work by chemical entrepreneurs, the ACS said its immediate priority is providing services and introducing entrepreneurs to contacts in the industry and academia who can help them get started.
Services important to entrepreneurs include legal advice, help in navigating the patent application process, assistance in business establishment, marketing and working with academic institutions to identify new innovations with a high potential for commercialization.
Although ACS’s first goal is to support entrepreneurs directly, the organization said changes in the U.S. business climate are equally important.
The report calls for changes in federal and state policies governing the patent application process and policies that foster small business. Critically important are programs that make direct research funding readily available to small businesses.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
