Government spending restrictions have had a negative impact on several occupations in this group. In particular, spending restrictions on environmental research and monitoring may decrease demand for biologists. Similarly, spending restrictions in drug and food research and monitoring may decrease demand for pharmacologists, toxicologists and food and nutrition scientists. On the other hand, public interest in environmental and health issues may slow or reverse this trend. The area of strongest growth for these occupations may be pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, especially agricultural biotechnology.
Biotechnology is a relatively small industry, but is growing rapidly.
Employment requirements in these occupations are expected to increase through 2004 across a broad range of industries, with much of the increase occurring in the professional services industry.