Labor Markets for New Science and Engineering Graduates in Private Industry. Science Resources Studies Highlights.

Data are presented on labor market conditions for science and engineering graduates based on responses of 255 firms to mail and telephone surveys conducted in late fall of 1981. Highlights presented in table, chart, and text indicate: (1) definite and likely shortages were concentrated in the computer and engineering fields; (2) chemical, industrial, mechanical engineering and earth sciences reported a general balance between supply and demand; (3) fields in which job applicants were in excess of needs included physics, mathematics, chemistry, and civil engineering; (4) employer perceptions of shortages of Ph.D.'s were not consistent with those at the lower degree levels; (5) reported shortages were concentrated in industries having experienced overall employment growth in 1981; (6) at each degree level a greater proportion of employers reported shortages for engineering graduates then for science graduates; (7) large firms on the average sought proportionately more new workers than did medium-sized firms; and (8) 43 percent of the employers reporting shortages felt that these were attributable to rapid growth of their industry, while about 2 percent attributed their shortages to competition from other industries. (Author/JN)