Downsizing and layoffs have affected nearly every facet of the American workforce during the last year, and the spectroscopy
job market is no exception. Despite this, the spectroscopy field has seen some increases in salary, as well as workloads and
stress levels.
This year, Spectroscopy's salary survey had 553 respondents, from a broad range of job sectors and locations. Here are a few
statistics about this year's results:
28% of respondents are from the Midwest region; 27% are from the Northeast region; 21% are from the Southeast region; 21%
are from the Southwest region; and 3% are from the Northwest.
20% of respondents are 50–54 in age; 14% are 40–44 in age; 14% are 45–49 in age; 12% are 55–59 in age; 11% are 35–39 in age;
10% are 60–64 in age; 7% are 30–34 in age; 6% are 25–29 in age; 5% are 65+ in age; and 1% are 20–24 in age.
73% of respondents are male and 27% are female.
43% of respondents hold doctoral degrees; 34% hold bachelor's degrees; 20% hold master's degrees; and 4% hold associate degrees.
62% of respondents received their highest degree in chemistry; 11% received it in biology; 8% received it biochemistry/biophysics;
8% received it in physics; 3% received it in environmental engineering/science; 2% received it in chemical engineering; 2%
received it in geology/earth science; 2% received it in polymer science; and 2% received it in pharmaceutical science.
64% of respondents work in the private sector; 18% work in academia; 14% work in government/national lab; and 4 % work in
other areas.
93% of respondents are employed full-time; 3% are postdoctoral researchers/graduate students; 2% are employed part-time; 1%
are contract employees/ consultants; and 1% are unemployed.
20% of respondents are senior scientists/researchers/research fellows; 15% are chemists/spectroscopists; 14% are laboratory
directors/managers; 10% are staff scientists/researchers/research fellows; 5% are full professors; 5% are laboratory technicians/technologists;
5% are analysts; 4% are research assistants/associates; 2% are assistant professors; 2% are associate professors; 2% are process
engineers; 2% are technical directors; 1% are process chemists; 1% are CEO/presidents; and 12% are other.
Pay it Foward
Table I: 2001–2010 average salaries
According to this year's survey, the mean salary for all respondents is $80,778, which is an increase from last year's mean
of $78,807 — an increase of $1971. This is also the largest salary we've seen over the last decade (see Table I).
As seen in Table I (with the exception of 2008), salaries have risen continuously for spectroscopists by a few thousand dollars
each year. The largest increase reported was in 2006, when the average salary rose by nearly $5000. When evaluating the data
this way, it is not surprising that the salaries continued to rise despite the troubled economy.
Another factor playing into salaries again this year was respondents' level of experience in their respective fields. An estimated
40.9% of respondents had between 21 and 35 years of experience; 17.6% had between 10 and 15 years of experience; 11.8% had
between 16 and 20 years of experience; 11.6% had less than 5 years of experience; 9.6% had between 5 and 9 years of experience;
5.3% had between 36 and 40 years of experience; and 3.3% had 41 or more years of experience. As with most industries, the
more professional experience a person has, the higher their salary.
