These statements and statistics are based on information available from Statistics New Zealand about agricultural scientist occupations. Charts and statistics on agricultural scientists include data on agronomists and horticultural scientists. Therefore, agricultural and horticultural scientists are likely to remain in demand at private companies, crown research institutes and universities. Research is also becoming more commercially focused and there is a greater emphasis on the fact that work being done is of immediate use in the market place. A greater knowledge of genetics and molecular biology is required as further breakthroughs in science lead to a greater understanding of the way plants and crops work.
Staff tend to stay in their positions because there are limited opportunities to change employers.