Tuesday, December 26, 2023

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 490 research/teaching positions and 64 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 490 research/teaching positions and 64 teaching positions

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On January 3, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 567 research/teaching positions and 55 teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the second, open thread. Here's a link to the current, third open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Job posting: Senior Laboratory Instructor, Chemistry Department, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

From the inbox: 

The Chemistry Department at Colgate University invites applications for a full-time senior laboratory instructor position beginning fall semester 2024. A PhD in chemistry or a closely related field is required at the time of hire or shortly after. The successful candidate will teach instructional labs for organic and general chemistry. 

Consistent with the candidate’s expertise, demonstration of effective teaching, and the needs of the department, there may also be opportunities to teach lecture components of introductory and foundational level chemistry courses, as well as courses in Colgate’s Liberal Arts Core Curriculum. The successful candidate may assist with the preparation of materials for instructional labs, and collaborate with our lab coordinators and other faculty to develop laboratory manuals and new experiments. 

A cover letter, curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching interests, a diversity statement, and three letters of recommendation must be submitted through http://apply.interfolio.com/138362. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Friday, December 22, 2023

Have a great weekend

This week wasn't as quiet as I hoped, but it had its quiet moments. Here's hoping that you had a good week, and that you have a wonderful, restful weekend. See you (briefly) on Monday. 

FDA: "FDA warns consumers not to use counterfeit Ozempic (semaglutide) found in U.S. drug supply chain"

 Via FDA's website: 

FDA continues to investigate counterfeit Ozempic (semaglutide) injection 1 milligram (mg) in the legitimate U.S. drug supply chain and has seized thousands of units of the product. The agency advises wholesalers, retail pharmacies, health care practitioners and patients to check the product they have received and not distribute, use, or sell products labeled with lot number NAR0074 and serial number 430834149057 as pictured below. Some counterfeit products may still be available for purchase.

FDA and Novo Nordisk (manufacturer of Ozempic) are testing the seized products and do not yet have information about the drugs’ identity, quality, or safety.

Additionally, analysis found the needles from the samples are counterfeit. Accordingly, the sterility of the needles cannot be confirmed, which presents an increased risk of infection for patients who use the counterfeit products. Based on analyses completed to date, other confirmed counterfeit components within the seized products are the pen label, accompanying health care professional and patient information, and carton. 

FDA is aware of five adverse events from this lot, none of which are serious and are consistent with known common adverse reactions to authentic Ozempic, which are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and constipation.

It seems to me that this sort of thing is to be expected with such a revolutionary drug. It seems to me that the only thing that Novo could have done was to ensure a plentiful supply of Ozempic from the start, but I'm not sure there was enough fill-and-finish capacity available, especially with them surely competing with every vaccine manufacturer for available lines... 

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Job posting: Staff scientist, Synthesis and Development, Innophos, Cranbury, NJ

From the inbox: 

Innophos is seeking a Staff Scientist for the Synthesis and Development Lab based in our Cranbury, NJ location. The successful candidate will perform lab-based experiments and testing to support new product development in the phosphate and nutrition business and provide technical support to manufacturing sites across the company.

Key Responsibilities

  • Design and execute experiments and procedures to prepare materials/formulations in the R&D lab
  • Perform hand-on benchtop synthesis and evaluation of Innophos and customer materials
  • Record all relevant information related to product development, sample characterization & experimental design
  • Apply product and application know how to identify optimum technology solutions
  • Conduct general research on targeted industries/topics, including scientific search and reading and evaluating published literature
  • Lead and drive to completion of NPD projects through SPARC (Stage-Gate) process
  • Present data generated to project and management teams
  • Comply with all safety policies, practices, and procedures

Required Education and Experience

  • B.A. with 5+ years of experience preferred in specialty chemical industry, or M.S. degree with 3+ years of experience, or PhD. degree
  • Areas of study: Chemistry, Materials Science, or related field
  • At least 3 or more years of experience working in a chemistry/materials science lab, experience of material synthesis especially inorganic materials is strongly preferred 
Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

A Christmas letter for your family

A Chemjobber Christmas tradition, updated for 2023. Send a PDF to your family - try it, it works! 

December 20, 2023

Dear family member:

This holiday season, your relative is in his or her fifth/sixth/seventh/_______ year of graduate school in chemistry. This is a delicate time in your students’ lives -- please make interactions smooth for all by following these simple suggestions:

  1. Please supply lots of fresh fruit and vegetables -- they are in short supply. 

  2. Do not offer pizza, which is an all-too-common part of their diets. 

  3. Sleep is a rare commodity in graduate school; please turn down sheets and fluff pillows. Be prepared to see them about 24 hours after they get home.

In attempting to communicate with your graduate student, please avoid asking the following questions: 


  1. When are you going to finish? 

  2. What can you do with your degree? 

  3. Will you be the kind of doctor that helps people? 

  4. Can you make Ozempic? I heard there’s a shortage. 

  5. There's a clinical chemistry department at my hospital -- can you get a job there? 

  6. Why do you need a postdoc? Haven't you gone to enough school? 

  7. Did I hear your paper was on PubPeer?

  8. MEGABIOGENE has opened a facility nearby -- can you get a job there?  

  9. How about a startup? I hear AI is still hot. 

  10. I see [insert high school rival here] has finished medical school -- how much will they be
    making? 

  11. Have you thought about teaching? I heard professors have a stable job. 

  12. When are you going to finish? 


In following these simple suggestions, I trust that you, your graduate student and your family will have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Very sincerely,

Chemjobber

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 481 research/teaching positions and 60 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 481 research/teaching positions and 60 teaching positions

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On December 20, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 564 research/teaching positions and 48 teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the current, second, open thread. This will be the third open thread when I close the second thread shortly. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Monday, December 18, 2023

C&EN: "Ukraine’s research capacity is down 20% due to war"

Via Chemical and Engineering News (article by Krystal Vasquez):

Nearly one in five Ukrainian scientists have left the country since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, according to a new study that surveyed over 2,500 researchers who’ve been affected by the war (Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun. 2023, DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02346-x) . Of the scientists who stayed in Ukraine, 40% are devoting less time to research than they did before the war, and around 10% have stopped conducting research entirely.

Altogether, Ukraine’s research capacity is down 20%, and this loss will greatly impact the country for years to come. “Science and innovation fuel long-term economic growth,” says Gaétan de Rassenfosse, an economist at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and one of the authors of the study. “The extent that we destroy the science system today compromises the long-term growth opportunity of the country tomorrow.”

And the situation may not improve even if the war ends, de Rassenfosse explains. If the war suddenly stopped today, around 7% of Ukraine’s scientists would have permanently left research, the researchers estimate. Their absence could sap teachers and mentors for the country’s science students.

The international community has been providing support to Ukrainian scientists, but more can be done, the researchers say. For example, institutions could offer longer-term contracts to those who left Ukraine, since at the time of the survey, only 14% of these migrant scientists had secured a long-term contract abroad.

I am not familiar with the scholarship of refugee migration, but I wonder if there has ever been such an immediate impact on pharmaceutical research (I imagine World War II had such moments). 

Friday, December 15, 2023

Have a great weekend

Gosh, this has been a bonkers week, but here we are. I hope that you've had a great week, and I hope you have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

Hydrogen cyanide found on Saturn moon

Via the New York Times: 

Scientists have detected a poison among the spray of molecules emanating from a small moon of Saturn. That adds to existing intrigue about the possibility of life there.

The poison is hydrogen cyanide, a colorless gas that is deadly to many Earth creatures. But it could have played a key role in chemical reactions that created the ingredients that set the stage for the advent of life.

“It’s the starting point for most theories on the origin of life,” said Jonah Peter, a biophysics graduate student at Harvard. “It’s sort of the Swiss Army knife of prebiotic chemistry.”

Thus, Mr. Peter was excited when he found hydrogen cyanide at Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn that is about 310 miles across. It has a subsurface ocean that makes it among the most promising places to look for life elsewhere in the solar system.

If you read further in the article, they've found acetylene and propene too. I suppose that's not thaaaat surprising, but it's still pretty cool nonetheless. 

(You could imagine, if energy was limitless, that you could use the atmosphere in order to get your petrochemical-type molecules for making stuff for space explorers...) 

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Job posting: Executive Director – Head of Process Chemistry, Alberta Site, Gilead

From the inbox: 
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Executive Director – Head of Process Chemistry, Alberta Site reports to Gilead’s Global Head of Technical Development and is responsible for leading a team of 75 scientists to develop safe, robust, and cost-effective processes for the manufacture of clinical and commercial synthetic molecule Drug Substances.  In addition, the Executive Director will be a key member of the Alberta Site Leadership team, supporting operations, quality and manufacturing process plans that ensure the reliable production and delivery of high-quality drug substance products. They will also lead, model, and create an environment of inclusion, develop talent, and empower teams to achieve their goals.

The successful candidate will contribute their technical expertise and functional knowledge with industry know-how across multiple sites and multiple teams, directs execution of scientific research and development strategies and plans that support and align with organizational and therapeutic area strategic direction and roadmap to enable corporate objectives and ambitions. 

JOB DESCRIPTION
  • Lead and drive line function to collaborate across multiple sites and CMC functions to support and progress the small molecule portfolio advancement. Ensure collaboration across relevant Technical Development and Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing (PDM) functions (i.e., Process Chemistry in Foster City, Analytical Development, Formulation Development).
  • Lead teams with accountability to investigate a wide variety of engineering and scientific principles and concepts to potential inventions, drug development through to commercialization, and leadership to conceive and develop critical, long-range solutions.
Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 476 research/teaching positions and 55 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 476 research/teaching positions and 55 teaching positions

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On December 13, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 557 research/teaching positions and 40 teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the current, second, open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Monday, December 11, 2023

C&EN: "UK scientists fear impact of new immigration rules"

In this week's C&EN, this news (article by by Benjamin Plackett) 

In a bid to cut immigration, the British government says it will raise the minimum salary that skilled migrants must earn to qualify for a work visa to £38,000 ($47,800) from £26,200 ($33,000). The governing Conservative party is keen to make ground on promises to stem rising rates of immigration ahead of a general election, due to take place in 2024.

The new rules mean that about 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now be ineligible to do so, according to the government’s calculations. Many scientists are concerned because the new threshold is higher than the salary of most early-career researchers.

“We’ll see still fewer overseas applicants for postdocs in the UK,” says Ben Sheldon, a zoologist at the University of Oxford. “We don’t train enough high-quality PhD students to be able to recruit entirely from within.” More than 60% of postdoctoral researchers in the UK come from overseas, according to a report from the Royal Society, the UK’s scientific academy.

This anxiety is echoed by others. “These proposed changes, combined with big increases in visa costs earlier this year, run the risk that the UK becomes a less and less attractive destination for the world’s brightest and best talent,” says Daniel Rathbone, interim executive director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), which lobbies for better science funding in the UK.

I can't pretend like I understand UK immigration policy, but it seems to me that raising a salary threshold by 45% in a year will cause large disruptions. I wonder if this will get walked back? 

Chemistry students in Georgia in accident; PPE prevented major injuries

Via the Marietta Daily Journal: 

Two female Marietta High School students received chemical burns due to an accident in a chemistry lab Thursday afternoon, Principal Marvin Crumbs announced in a message to families.

Around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Marietta Superintendent Grant Rivera told the MDJ that both students were in the process of being discharged from a local hospital.

The students, who Rivera said were upperclassmen, were burned when a “routine lab experiment” using sulfuric acid and magnesium went awry.

“Based on feedback from the teacher, the concentration of the sulfuric acid may have been too high, because the reaction occurred quicker and more abruptly than expected,” Rivera said. “As a result, the acid splattered and got on both the student conducting the experiment, as well as … a child in the lab at a table nearby.”

Students were wearing the required safety gear including aprons and goggles, Rivera said, and under the direct supervision of a teacher.

Following the accident, all safety protocols were followed, Rivera said, including placing the injured students underneath an emergency shower in the lab, followed by an immediate response from administrators and emergency services personnel.

“Obviously, upon reflection … we recognize that we have to have greater caution around higher concentrations of chemicals,” Rivera said. “So we will meet with the teacher, meet with the science department, to determine, as we would with any situation, 'What do we need to learn from this?' … We train for it, but it's highly unusual, and obviously we do not want it to happen again.”

I've done this experiment - guessing that someone added something a bit too quick. Nice to see that the students had PPE on. 

Friday, December 8, 2023

Have a good weekend

This has been kind of a bonkers week, but that's all right. Almost all the way through it, and Friday looks to be (kind of) relaxing for me. I hope you had a good week, have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday. 

C&EN: "Nick Ishmael-Perkins will be the next editor in chief of C&EN"

From C&EN's Krystal Vasquez: 

Nick Ishmael-Perkins will be the next editor in chief of C&EN. Ishmael-Perkins is currently a senior consultant for the International Science Council and will move to the magazine in February 2024.

In his current position, Ishmael-Perkins focuses mostly on improving the public’s perception of science. For example, he helped produce an award-winning multimedia series that explores how to better communicate scientific discoveries. Earlier in his career, Ishmael-Perkins served as the director of SciDev.Net, an online news outlet that covers how science and technology can aid in global development. He has also worked as a journalist, media trainer, and project manager in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

“We are proud to have a talented individual like Nick joining” the American Chemical Society, ACS CEO Albert G. Horvath says in a statement. “We’re excited about the vision, energy, leadership and expertise he brings to C&EN.” C&EN is published by ACS but is editorially independent.

I look forward to Ishmael-Perkins' leading of C&EN, and I hope that this is the beginning of a long and peaceful time for C&EN's staff, which has been through it for the past few years. 

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Job posting: Biotech Intellectual Property Patent Agent/Technical Specialist (NY/CA)

Via C&EN Jobs: 
Duane Morris seeks a biotech patent prosecution, opinion and counseling patent agent/technical specialist (Ph.D.) with 0-5 years of experience, for its San Diego or New York office. The successful candidate will hold an advanced degree (i.e., Ph.D.), from an accredited institution, in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology or microbiology, and have experience practicing before the USPTO that is commensurate with the candidate’s years in practice. Additional appreciation of organic chemistry, and bioinformatics is desired. Candidate must be admitted (or have the ability to become admitted) to practice before the USPTO as a registered U.S. Patent Agent.

The target annual pay range for this role in San Diego is $140,000-$160,000. Actual pay will vary depending upon various factors, including relevant experience, skill-set, current business needs and market factors. The compensation range listed is just one component of Duane Morris' total comp package for employees, which, depending on the position, may also include discretionary bonuses and incentive packages, and firm-sponsored benefit programs.

The target annual pay range for this role in New York is $150,000-$170,000. Actual pay will vary depending upon various factors, including relevant experience, skill-set, current business needs and market factors. The compensation range listed is just one component of Duane Morris' total comp package for employees, which, depending on the position, may also include discretionary bonuses and incentive packages, and firm-sponsored benefit programs.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested.  

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Dan Baldassarre is lying about my friends

I’m never surprised to read complaints about the teaching and learning of organic chemistry on Twitter. It is an evergreen topic to the point that I used to be amused about the complaints, and then I was offended by them and now I am merely saddened. 

However, this post on (the former) Twitter by Dan Baldassarre was a new low, because Professor Baldassarre is a current professor, and not simply a random medical student or recently graduated physician. 

Continually flabbergasted by organic chemistry professors who don't interrogate their course design despite half the students failing. The callous, inflexible, sink-or-swim culture around this course is so gross. If half your students regularly fail, you're not doing your job.

He had the unfortunate circumstance of having his tweet become quite popular. He doubled down with this: 

O chem profs getting together to celebrate failing half their students and preserving the holy sanctity of med school 

The accompanying gif is that of some odd folks dancing wildly. On being asked about it by Debbie Gale Mitchell (a friend, and a teaching professor of chemistry), he had this reply: 

I’m not referring to any one person, merely to the preponderance of such professors across the field. As evidenced by the replies and quotes, they are quite common. I don’t doubt there are systemic issues at play as well though.

There are three factual claims here: 

  1. The failure rate for organic chemistry students is 50% 
  2. Professors have created a “callous, inflexible, sink-or-swim culture” and are celebrating the failure of their students, and are directly or indirectly attempting to preserve med student quality. 
  3. Organic chemistry professors who celebrate the failure of such students are a “preponderance”, that is, a majority of organic professors are happy to see their students fail. 

What I like about Baldassarre claim 1 is that it’s immediately falsifiable. What I learned is that there is not a lot of data out there. A brief informal survey indicates that current DFW rates among professors is well below 30%; a cursory look at the chemical education literature indicates that rates at 50% are indeed documented (as far back as 1999, and as recently as 2008.). I have a strong sense that the recent rates at Professor Baldassarre’s own institution are not nearly so high - I wonder if he has investigated? Nevertheless, the data is equivocal. 

What I am much more bothered by is Professor Baldassarre’s second claim - that organic professors are genuinely happy to fail students, and this position is held by most organic professors. I count A LOT of organic chemistry professors as my friends. Over the years, I’ve seen that they genuinely want their students to learn, and care about their students learning the material. I have heard none of the hundreds of organic professors I’ve talked to over the years celebrate the failure of their students; rather, I hear these professors doing their best (contra Baldassarre) to learn, to care, to listen and meet their students where they are. What is even more specious about his tweet is that chemistry professors care a whit about medical school admissions. Rather, I have found organic professors to view the MCAT as a burden to be shouldered, when they have talked about it at all. 

It’s true, I'm biased. I was, for something like 20 years, a professional organic chemist, and even now, I work in industrial organic chemistry. I genuinely love my field. It's the chemistry of life and I think organic chemistry is the perfect synthesis of science and craft and art. I know that professional organic chemistry educators try to communicate that same love to their students, even the pre-meds. Organic chemistry education could always be better - but that’s not Dan Baldassarre’s claim. Rather, his claim is that my organic professor friends are uncaring sadists. He’s wrong, and I wish that he would stop lying about my friends.

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 472 research/teaching positions and 49 teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 472 research/teaching positions and 49 teaching positions

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On December 6, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 530 research/teaching positions and 35 teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. Here's a link to the current, second, open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Job posting: NMR facility coordinator, Department of Chemistry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

From the inbox: 

Under general supervision, employs a broad knowledge of principles, practices, and procedures in a particular field of specialization to plan, coordinate, and conduct research.

  • Coordinates all activities in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility, includes nitrogen and helium fills, billing, and maintenance of NMR instruments.
  • Lead, guide, and train staff/student employees, interns, and/or volunteers performing related work; may participate in the recruitment of volunteers, as appropriate to the area of operation of NMR instruments
  • Maintain and expand user list of NMR facility within and outside of UNM.
  • Plans, coordinates, and conducts scientific research requiring judgment in the independent evaluation, selection, and substantial adaptation and modification of standard scientific techniques related to NMR
  • Applies an analytical approach to the solution of a wide variety of problems or applies specialized techniques or ingenuity in selecting and evaluating approaches to unforeseen or novel problems related to NMR.
  • Demonstrates and applies thorough understanding of scientific methods, research protocols, assessment instruments, and data interpretation.
MS preferred. Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Monday, December 4, 2023

C&EN: Whither older NMRs

Great article by Celia Henry Arnaud in this week's C&EN about Varian NMRs, including this bit of speculation: 
While researchers deal with the practical ramifications of Agilent’s exit, WUSTL’s Hayes is considering the broader implications. “I think we might see changes, because what this has shown is that it’s like a single-point-of-failure model. We are now in a situation where hardware with very high capital equipment costs is purchased, only to learn that the company may choose not to be in this business within a year or two thereafter,” she says.

NMR instruments are unique in their longevity, Hayes notes. “In many cases we have been fortunate as a department to keep them for 20 or 30 years. So what do you do in terms of robust decision-making when the landscape for vendors of such equipment is so uncertain?”

Hayes predicts that in the next decade or two there could be a shift toward benchtop instruments for routine analysis in synthesis labs—both to avoid the large purchases and to circumvent difficulties with the helium market. But until then, she adds, “every research-oriented chemistry department needs an NMR—at least one, if not two.”

Is anyone actively moving towards benchtop NMRs in synthetic chemistry? I'd love to know if this is happening... 

C&EN: "Novo Nordisk to expand GLP-1 production in France"

In this week's C&EN, this news (article by Rick Mullin): 
Novo Nordisk will invest $2.3 billion to expand manufacturing at its plant in Chartres, France. The project includes finished-drug production for products based on a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, semaglutide, the active ingredient in two of its blockbusters. Last month, the company announced a $6 billion expansion at its plant in Kalundborg, Denmark, which makes GLP-1 products. Novo Nordisk has been straining to keep up with demand for semaglutide. Its Weygovy, a weight loss drug, and Ozempic, for type 2 diabetes, booked sales of $4.5 billion in the third quarter, a 37% increase over the same period last year.

It will be fascinating to see the ripples of Wegovy/Ozempic through the industry... 

Friday, December 1, 2023

Have a great weekend


Well, this has been a bonkers week, but I'm almost through it. I hope that you had a calmer week than I did, and that you have a wonderful weekend. I am looking forward to spending it with my family. See you on Monday!

C&EN: ACC predicts a sluggish 2024

Via C&EN's Alex Tullo, this grim news:

The US chemical industry had a tough 2023, and next year it will have to weather a tougher economic climate, possibly even a downturn.

That was the message delivered by the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry trade group, in its industry forecast on Nov. 28. The ACC estimates that the industry’s output, excluding pharmaceuticals, will decline by 1.0% in 2023. It predicts a modest turnaround to 1.5% growth next year.

“We saw weakness really emerge last year in the third quarter, and it’s continued through much of this year,” ACC chief economist Martha Gilchrist Moore told reporters on a conference call.

...For example, Moore pointed out, student loan repayments are starting up again, credit card debt defaults are increasing, and consumers have worked through much of the savings they accumulated during the pandemic.

After posting 2.3% growth in gross domestic product in 2023, the US will experience economic growth of only 1.1% in 2024, the ACC expects.

There is this weird aspect of the economy these days, where there is a lot of negative data from standard economic indicators, and yet it does not yet seem to have shown up in the unemployment numbers (which, I imagine, are a lagging and not a leading indicator.) I do not wish it to be so (for many reasons) but I am concerned that 2024 will be a worse hiring year for industrially-oriented chemists than 2023, but I don't really have a great sense of this.