Biological and medical scientists usually work regular hours in offices, laboratories or hospitals. Geoscientists divide their time between the office, field and laboratory. Oceanographers may spend long periods at sea on research ships. Surveyors typically work a 40-hour week, much of it outdoors. Land surveyors and technicians engage in physical work, often exposed to the weather.
Cartographers spend virtually all their time in offices.
Almost half of all wage and salary engineering jobs were found in manufacturing industries. Biological and medical scientists held about 112,000 jobs in 1998. Geologists, geophysicists and oceanographers held about 44,000 jobs in 1998. Surveying and mapping scientists held about 110,000 jobs in 1998. Engineering and architectural services firms employed about 64 percent of these workers.