What’s in store for the 2021 US chemistry job market? Chemjobber offers his predictions

Abstract

The leaves have fallen from the maple tree in my front yard, and as I get ready to say goodbye and good riddance to 2020, I’m reminded that it’s time for my year-end predictions for the 2021 US chemistry job market. It’s been quite a year. When the pandemic hit the US this spring, I expected to see an impact on academic hiring, and I was correct. According to the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List compiled by Andrew Spaeth and me, the 2019–20 academic cycle ended with 557 tenure-track professor positions available , down slightly from 592 positions in the 2018–19 cycle. But the 2020–21 academic hiring cycle is looking grim so far , with the current count of available positions (210 to date) down 60% from where we would normally be in the cycle. Teaching assistant professor positions (currently at 19) are down by 50%. While the drop in the