These statements and statistics are based on information available from Statistics New Zealand about chemical engineering occupations. Charts and statistics on chemical engineers include data on food technologists, chemical engineers, food engineers and biotechnologists. The outlook for biotechnologists looks good, and stable to moderate growth in the number of people employed in this occupation is expected over the next two to three years.
Biotechnology is one of the main growth areas in science.
Many companies that have spent a long time researching and developing biotechnology such as new anti-cancer and new antibiotics drugs are now at the production stage. This creates demand for biotechnologists that have the skills to turn samples into products. To some extent the growth of biotechnology in New Zealand will be dependant on the results of an inquiry into genetic modification, which will decide how much genetic work will be carried out in New Zealand. Staff turnover is low in this occupation, as biotechnologists tend to stay in the same position to develop their career. As a result, employers are finding it difficult to fill current vacancies, because they are competing with companies overseas to recruit biotechnologists.