Retail Business: Current Job Market

Wowgloucestershire – job sector factsheet Prospects 2012 ©

SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS: CURRENT JOB MARKET

Science is important for jobs and wealth creation. The chemical industry (including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints, plastics and other materials), for instance, is one of the largest manufacturing industries in the UK. According to UK Trade & Investment, exports are worth well over £40 billion The UK has an international reputation for research and development e.g. medical biotechnology and industrial biotechnology – and in view of the growing competition from India, China, Singapore and other countries, the government wants to keep it that way At the end of 2011, the government launched a 'strategy for UK life sciences'. One of the aims is to encourage scientists to stay in the UK by offering them financial and other support. Recently, a top scientist suggested science graduates should think about going abroad where funding might be more readily available Some work areas are extremely competitive. Forensic science, for instance, has become so popular that only a small percentage of forensic science graduates will find a related job. Ecology and zoology are other competitive areas Science jobs are available throughout the UK but there are clusters of specific employers – East Midlands has pharmaceutical, chemical and polymer employers, for instance, and the North West of England has clusters of chemical and bioscience employers. Increasingly, science employers have situated themselves close to similar employers in science 'parks' – sometimes these are linked to universities The UK has the second highest number of top research universities, after the USA. Particular strengths are agricultural and biological science and environmental science There are many small businesses in science but most scientists work for large companies (around 10% of companies have at least 250 staff) Science and maths teachers are in short supply – the government is offering £20,000 scholarships for the best and most enthusiastic physics graduates who want to become teachers Mathematicians can be employed in practically any sector – anything from education, finance and engineering, to architecture, political research and defence There are opportunities for operational researchers throughout the UK, although most employers are based in large cities. Employers are often from the public sector, including government departments and the NHS The main employers for statisticians are government departments and the pharmaceutical industry. There are also opportunities to work abroad, such as with Eurostat (part of the European Commission). Various government departments, however, have had a recruitment freeze for the last year or so

1 Wowgloucestershire – job sector factsheet Prospects 2012 ©

SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS: FUTURE TRENDS

It is likely that increasing numbers of science and technology companies will merge – this is a trend throughout the world. For instance, in Japan, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi are merging their LCD (liquid crystal display) operations in order to save money Environmental jobs are going to grow in importance. According to the European Environment Agency, air pollution from industry costs Britain £3.4 billion to £9.5 billion a year in health and environmental damage Predicting the future, the Guardian suggests that by 2020 there might be 'traceability managers' to examine global supply chains and check for suppliers that might be excessively pollutive or carbon-costly to buy from, and 'cloud controllers', who will work to increase the ability of clouds to reflect solar radiation Experts in renewable energy – solar, wind, tidal, hydrogen – are likely to be in demand There is a possibility that the comparatively high costs of labour in the UK will encourage companies to locate their premises in other countries. Although the UK is a world leader in various scientific areas, ever greater numbers of science graduates are being produced elsewhere, and they are our competition Britain is still likely to continue to excel in some areas, particularly in those involving advanced materials (which means growing opportunities for materials and chemical engineers), biometrics (such as fingerprint readers and retinal scanners) and robotic engineering (e.g. robotic vacuum cleaners) Scientists who can speak several languages and work well with people from different countries will improve their chances of work Despite science employers experiencing skill gaps in some work areas, recruitment is likely to continue to mainly be at graduate and postgraduate level. General skills that are ‘missing’ amongst employees and applicants in science and mathematical careers include business skills, management skills, IT skills and project management and team working skills

SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS: THE PICTURE IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE

The South West is a major centre of scientific research – Bristol is one of only a few 'science cities' in England and it has recently become the base for a multi-million pound science park, which is expected to bring science-related opportunities into the area Gloucestershire is known for its hi-tech and advanced engineering expertise. There are a few major employers in the region and scientists, as well as engineers, are sometimes required Clinical scientists are employed in the NHS in Gloucestershire. There are around 200 healthcare scientists in Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Cheltenham holds an annual Science Festival, which attracted more than 30,000 visitors in 2011 Finance (and some major non-finance) companies in Gloucestershire employ accountants, actuaries and other staff where skills/qualifications in maths/similar would be useful. There are some very large Insurance firms in the region, for instance Science, maths and business teachers/tutors are employed by schools, colleges and the University of Gloucestershire

Examples of science, maths and stats employers/locations in Gloucestershire

Permali Gloucester (composites manufacturer) British Energy (part of EDF), Barnwood Unilever (consumer products), Barnwood Renishaw (hi-tech products), Wotton-under-Edge The Dezac Group (health and beauty products), Forest of Dean/Cheltenham University of Gloucestershire Endsleigh (insurance), Cheltenham Campden BRI (food and drink research), Chipping Camden London General Insurance (The Warranty Group), Forest of Dean Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, Gloucester GCHQ (government department), Cheltenham Ecotricity (renewable energy), Stroud

SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS: FINDING OUT MORE

Science Council: www.futuremorph.org/

SEMTA (the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies): www.semta.org.uk/

Forensic Science Service: www.forensic.gov.uk/

Institute of Biomedical Science: www.ibms.org/

Institute of Food Science and Technology: www.ifst.org/

Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management: www.ieem.net/

Institute of Physics: www.iop.org/

Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain: www.rpsgb.org.uk/

Royal Society of Chemistry: www.rsc.org/

Society of Biology: www.societyofbiology.org/

The Biochemical Society: www.biochemistry.org/

The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications: www.ima.org.uk/

Operational Research (OR) Society: www.theorsociety.com/

Royal Statistical Society (RSS): www.rss.org.uk/