Chemical Engineers

AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
6%
risk level
POLLING
29%
Based on 626 votes
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
13.9%
by year 2032
WAGES
$106,260
or $51.08 per hour
Volume
20,380
as of 2022
SUMMARY
JOB SCORE
8.1/10

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Automation risk

6% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): Occupations in this category have a low probability of being automated, as they typically demand complex problem-solving, creativity, strong interpersonal skills, and a high degree of manual dexterity. These jobs often involve intricate hand movements and precise coordination, making it difficult for machines to replicate the required tasks.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Originality

  • Negotiation

  • Persuasion

  • Social Perceptiveness

User poll

29% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 6% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Chemical Engineers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?






Sentiment

The following graph(s) are included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Chemical Engineers' job openings is expected to rise 13.9% by 2032

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2021 and 2031
Updated projections are due 09-2023.

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2022, the median annual wage for 'Chemical Engineers' was $106,260, or $51 per hour

'Chemical Engineers' were paid 129.5% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $46,310

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2022 there were 20,380 people employed as 'Chemical Engineers' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 7 thousand people are employed as 'Chemical Engineers'.

Job description

Design chemical plant equipment and devise processes for manufacturing chemicals and products, such as gasoline, synthetic rubber, plastics, detergents, cement, paper, and pulp, by applying principles and technology of chemistry, physics, and engineering.

SOC Code: 17-2041.00

Resources

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Comments

Malcom says
If a ChemE is skilled at concept-intitiation and development, he/she/they will be able to work together with AI, but I could see this job seeing cuts in the future once more productivity is leveraged through AI.
Oct 28, 2023 at 10:56 PM
CTB (Moderate) says
Regardless of the difficulties that can be found in everyday problems, tasks like plant design can be fully automated based on location, requirements, and technologies to be applied. As well, many tasks for a plant can be partially automated, like auxiliary services, fire prevention, and update related documents.
Jun 29, 2023 at 08:43 PM
Jeremy Ibuprofen says
CE is not to be taken over by robots as Shreyash Gadakh says it needs a human brain and an imaginative mind.
May 05, 2021 at 02:25 AM
Michi (No chance) says
CE work requires creative ideas, problem solving mindset and out of the box thinking.
Nov 25, 2019 at 02:19 PM
Kevin hsueh says
I agree with you. Robots don’t have Brain to solve humanity problem. If the robot really takes our jobs . I think our human in earth whose intelligence will decrease because we don’t use our brain .
Dec 01, 2020 at 05:33 AM

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