| SPECIAL REPORT Volume 78, Number 23 CENEAR 78 23 pp. ISSN 0009-2347 |
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Survey of mature ACS members, age 50 to 69, confirms that industrial chemists face greater uncertainties late in their careers
Retirement is a significant step for anybody. Depending on when and how it comes, the event can range from being traumatic, depressing, and financially crippling to being a smooth transition to a well-earned, well-planned, and enjoyable new phase of life. Retirement can also provide an opportunity to pursue a new job or career path. How well are chemists as a group faring in the later stages of their careers and in their transition to retirement? That basic question is one that the American Chemical Society has probed with a survey of just over 5,000 of its more than 37,000 members age 50 to 69 who live in the U.S. Dubbed the Mature Career Chemist Survey, it involved mailing a 16-page, 49-question booklet to members throughout 1999. The response rate was about 55%. The major statistical findings mostly confirm and quantify what would be expected:
These overall results are similar to those from a 1993 ACS survey of its members between age 55 and 70. However, the new survey indicates some improvement. For instance, in 1993, only 60% of those with pensions had initiated them. This compares with the 70% for those in essentially the same age group--55 to 69--in 1999.
The population of ACS members surveyed is 12% female; at the Ph.D. level, it is only 8% female. By highest degree, the population is 64% Ph.D., 18% master's degree, and 18% bachelor's degree. Thus, to obtain adequate samples of bachelor's- and master's-level chemists, questionnaires were mailed to equal numbers, about 1,700, at each of the three degree levels. For the same reason, a disproportionately large number of questionnaires were sent to women. Where necessary, results were calculated by appropriate weighting of the returns. The population also includes almost 7% chemical engineers. Because this sample is small, it is not broken out and analyzed separately but is left as part of the total sample of what are referred to in this article as chemists. The survey was initiated and guided by the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs (CEPA). It was conducted by ACS's Department of Career Services under the supervision of senior research analyst Mary W. Jordan. Jordan also directs ACS's two annual surveys: starting salaries for newly graduated chemists and the salary and employment status for all ACS members.
The results from the new survey need to be interpreted carefully because the population it studies is in some ways quite heterogeneous. The sample includes chemists at the peak of their careers as well as those well into the traditional retirement years. For instance, because of the shift in the employment profile over the 50 to 69 age span, the finding that 33% of all chemists in this age group are receiving a pension is not particularly meaningful in itself. However, further analysis reveals some significant differences. For instance, male respondents are almost twice as likely, 35%, as female respondents, 19%, to be receiving a pension. There is also a significant difference between industrial chemists, with 35% receiving a pension, and academic chemists, with a significantly lower 25% receiving a pension. Employment status Not unexpectedly, the differences between the employment status of 50- to 54-year-old chemists as a group and 65- to 69-year-old chemists are large. Those with full-time permanent jobs fall from 89% of the younger group to 18% of the older group. The big falloff starts with the 60- to 64-year-old group, at 50%. The trend in the number of respondents not employed and not seeking employment moves, as expected, in the other direction, from 2.6% of the 50- to 54-year-olds to 54% of the 65- to 69-year-olds.
In what may be one of the few survey surprises, women respondents are more likely to have full-time permanent jobs--68% compared with 63% for men. Also, fewer women, 17% compared with 21% of men, are not employed and not seeking employment. These gender differences probably are related in part to age. Women respondents are younger, with a median age of about 56 compared with about 59 for the men. In addition, some women have to work longer to earn a pension because of breaks in their careers. By nature of employer, 73% of all academic respondents hold full-time permanent jobs. This compares with only 63% of the industrial chemists and 69% of government-employed chemists. When the 22% of all respondents who were not employed were asked to select all that apply among eight reasons why, 85% indicated they were retired. The second highest reason was "I do not want to work anymore," at 16%. "Insufficient incentive to work" and "terminated" both came in at just over 10%. Only 2.3% indicated a lack of job opportunities. Pensions and retirement Survey results indicate that considerable numbers of relatively younger chemists are receiving a pension--4.6% of those from 50 to 54 years old, for instance. From that age group on, the growth is rapid: 18% of the 55- to 59-year-old group, 46% for 60- to 64-year-olds, and 80% for those between age 65 and 69. The analysis of how the percentage of chemists receiving pensions varies by employment status brings out the clear advantage held by men over women. For instance, for those not employed and not seeking a job, 87% of the men but only 68% of the women were receiving a pension. Similarly, of those with a full-time permanent job, 8% of the men but only 3% of the women were also receiving a pension. The biggest single factor affecting the perceived adequa-cy of a pension seems to be whether it came as the result of a voluntary retirement initiated by the employee or an involuntary separation mandated by the employer. Of those who initiated their pension, 18% thought it was less than adequate. For those who were involuntarily separated, almost half, 48%, deemed their pension inadequate.
Type of employer is another important factor in pension satisfaction. Of those who retired voluntarily, 7.7% of academics and 25% of industrial chemists find their pension inadequate. For those separated involuntarily, these percentages move up sharply to 15% and 52%, respectively. An interesting finding is that the relatively few 50- to 54-year-old chemists with pensions are surprisingly positive about them, with a very high 36% deeming them to be "more than adequate." This may indicate that these very early separations are unusually generous and that the still relatively young recipients have a reasonable chance of finding another job. However, it may also be something of an aberration because of the small size of the sample, especially as the "more than adequate" score drops to 5.9% for the next age group, age 55 to 59. The survey confirms that financial considerations are paramount in the decision to initiate a pension. When asked to identify the single most important reason to initiate a pension request, "attractive pension offer" and "assets sufficient to retire" came out as clear numbers one and two, with each nearly 23%. "Worked long enough" was third, at 9.4%, followed by "want more leisure time," at 7.4%. Of those who did not initiate their pension, 77% indicated their involuntary retirement was triggered by downsizing. Another 4.0% attributed it to age discrimination. Among the few academics in this situation, only 34% blamed downsizing, with 63% identifying "other reasons." Satisfaction with retirement overall is also strongly linked to the voluntary or involuntary nature of its genesis. Of respondents who initiated their pension, only 3.5% are dissatisfied with their retirement. This compares with 18% of those who didn't initiate.
Nature of employer is not much of a factor in overall retirement satisfaction among those who retired voluntarily, with 4.0% of academics, 4.4% of government chemists, and 2.2% of industry chemists dissatisfied. However, the relatively very small number of academics separated involuntarily are singularly unhappy, with 54% dissatisfied with their retirement. In striking contrast, only 4.1% of involuntarily separated government chemists are dissatisfied, nearly the same as for government chemists who retired voluntarily. These overall results reinforce the contrast between more regulated academic and government employment, with its built-in securities, such as tenure, and the more risky nature of generally better paying industry jobs.
The generally later retirement for academics is probably one factor in the more generous nature of their current or expected pensions in terms of the pension amount relative to final salary. Of all academic respondents to the survey, 29% indicated their pension is or will be 50% or less of their final gross salary, while 44% believe it will be 75% or more. For all industrial respondents, expectations were much lower, with 70% indicating a pension 50% or less of their final salary and only 12% expecting 75% or more. Government chemists again fall in the middle, with 44% indicating a pension of 50% or less of final salary and 15% expecting 75% or more. The primary financial source for pensions--both current and future--also varies by employer. For 90% of all academic respondents, the primary source is employer pension plans, as it is for 86% of government chemists. Such plans are the primary source for a much lower 52% of industrial respondents. Salary reduction plans are primary for 34% of industrial chemists, 9.4% of government chemists, and 7.1% of academics. Salaries Salaries of those with full-time permanent jobs responding to the mature chemist survey reflect their long service and experience with an overall median of $80,000, which is well above the $68,000 median from the 1999 salary survey of all ACS members. The median of $85,000 for those 65 to 69 years old suggests many of them are still in their primary career jobs and not in lower paying positions taken since formal retirement. The advantage of industrial chemists, with a median salary of $90,000, is marked. For government chemists, the median was $74,200; for academics, it was $70,000. The salary advantage of men over women--$83,000 versus $67,300--is large and very real. Little of this difference can be attributed to women being slightly younger because, as ACS's annual salary and employment surveys show, median salaries tend to remain relatively flat with age after about 55. The difference between total professional income and full-time salary can be quite substantial. For all respondents, the median total professional income for calendar-year 1998 was $85,600. This is $5,600 higher than the $80,000 median salary as of March 1, 1999. For industrial chemists, this difference is $9,000; for academics, it's $8,000; and for government scientists, it is only $1,100. The propensity to work as a consultant apparently increases with age. Almost 18% of 50- to 54-year-old respondents to the survey are doing so or are planning to do so. This increases to 28% of the 65 to 69 group. Consulting is more common among Ph.D.s, 24%, than among chemists with bachelor's and master's degrees, both about 18%. And men, 23%, are more likely to do consulting work than women, 14%. Other career factors The mature chemist survey offers insight into the frequency and impact of lengthy career interruptions. Of all respondents, 18% indicated they had at least one hiatus of six months or more, during which they were neither working professionally nor attending school full time. By gender, 41% of the women had such an interruption. For men, it was 15%. For women, the major single reason was for maternity/child care needs. For men, it was being fired. Almost 40% of the men who had such breaks believe it hurt their careers, as do 49% of the women. Almost 63% of women respondents indicated that they had experienced adverse professional treatment because of their gender. Almost 3% of men also believe their gender adversely affected them. When it comes to age discrimination, 18% of all respondents believe it has adversely affected their careers. In assessing their careers overall, 50% of all respondents are very satisfied, another 43% are moderately satisfied, and 7% are either moderately or very dissatisfied. Academics are the most upbeat by a considerable margin--with 61% very satisfied, 34% moderately satisfied, and 5.0% dissatisfied. For industrial chemists, the corresponding breakdown was 46%, 46%, and 8.2%. For government chemists, it was 41%, 48%, and 11%.
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One segment of the ACS Mature Career Chemist Survey explored the opinions that older society members have of the products and services offered by the American Chemical Society. Respon dents were asked to select, from a list of 27 products and services, up to five items from which they personally receive the most benefit. They were also asked to identify up to five items that they consid er most important to the profession. In terms of personal benefit, the top five were Chemical & Engineering News,75%; ACS journals, 42%; Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), 40%; national meetings, 39%; and employment and sal ary survey information, 34%. Also ranking high were insurance and retirement programs, 31%; local sec tion activities, 26%; and divisional activ ities, 15%. Other, more specialized, ar eas ranged down to 1% for international activities. These results are almost identical to those from a similar survey conducted in 1990 in connection with an extensive study of the needs of ACS members. The five products and services that topped the ranking by personal benefit also topped the ranking by importance to the profession--with four of them having substantially higher scores than in 1990. This top five was headed by "improve the public image of chemis try" in 1990, a category that did not appear on the 1999 survey. CAS topped the 1999 ranking at 58%, up from 47% in 1990. C&EN, which im proved from 36% to 57%, was second. National meetings, steady at 51%, was third. ACS journals, up from 31% to 45%, was fourth, and salary and employ ment surveys, up to 23% from 19%, was tied for fifth with employment services, which also rose from 19% in 1990.
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A large majority of chemists with pensions, 69%, initiated their pension and so apparently retired voluntarily. The other 31% were mostly terminated through downsizing.
