Employment in science and technology: the news isn't too good

Sobering news from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which points to less than rosy prospects for recruitment into the science sector of the economy in a report published this week. The CBI has surveyed over 700 of its members, of which nearly 100 companies of different sizes in science, high-tech and IT. The findings show that 66% of these firms are currently operating a full or partial freeze on overall recruitment; this is higher than the average (61%) across all sectors surveyed, and suggests that - at least with regard to employment opportunities - science is far from immune from the economic downturn. Not surprisingly, the situation is even worse in sectors such as construction.

The better news is that a university degree remains an asset; 34% of surveyed science/hight tech/IT companies are operating a freeze specifically on graduate recruitment. The equivalent figure across all sectors is 38%, so a science or technology background may be a plus here. However, among science/hight tech/IT companies that are not operating such a freeze, only 12% are recruiting in 2009 at a higher level than 2008; for one third of them, the level is lower. UK plc is not out of the woods yet.