Chemical engineers
AI can help with a few sub-tasks (emails, paperwork), but the core of the job doesn't change.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Preparing estimates of production costs and production progress reports for management62
- Developing safety procedures to be employed41
- Specifying chemical production methods, materials and quality standards and ensuring that they conform to specifications37
- Conducting research and advising on, and developing commercial-scale chemical processes to refine crude oil and other liquids or gases, and to produce substances and items such as petroleum derivatives, explosives, food and drink products, medicines, or synthetic materials31
- Performing tests throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables, including temperature, density, specific gravity and pressure31
- Establishing control standards and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency of chemical production operations and safety of workers operating equipment or of those working in close proximity to ongoing chemical reactions29
- Designing chemical plant equipment and devising processes for manufacturing chemicals and products26
- Performing laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and testing proposed process in small scale operation such as a pilot plant.25
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Preparing estimates of production costs and production progress reports for management(62)
- Developing safety procedures to be employed(41)
- Specifying chemical production methods, materials and quality standards and ensuring that they conform to specifications(37)
- Conducting research and advising on, and developing commercial-scale chemical processes to refine crude oil and other liquids or gases, and to produce substances and items such as petroleum derivatives, explosives, food and drink products, medicines, or synthetic materials(31)
- Performing tests throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables, including temperature, density, specific gravity and pressure(31)
- Establishing control standards and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency of chemical production operations and safety of workers operating equipment or of those working in close proximity to ongoing chemical reactions(29)
- Designing chemical plant equipment and devising processes for manufacturing chemicals and products(26)
- Performing laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and testing proposed process in small scale operation such as a pilot plant.(25)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 35.)
About 13% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Preparing estimates of production costs and production progress reports for management
- • Developing safety procedures to be employed
- • Performing laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and testing proposed process in small scale operation such as a pilot plant.
- • Designing chemical plant equipment and devising processes for manufacturing chemicals and products
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Science and engineering professionals group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Science and engineering professionals |
|---|---|
| Finland | 6.3% · 163 thousand · 2025 |
| Luxembourg | 5.3% · 17 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 4.8% · 135 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 4.7% · 1,380 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 4.5% · 1,920 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 4.5% · 45 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 4.4% · 65 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 4.3% · 428 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 4.3% · 208 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 4.1% · 218 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 4.0% · 20 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 3.9% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 3.9% · 207 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 3.9% · 121 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 3.9% · 169 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 3.9% · 199 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 3.6% · 277 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 3.5% · 1,203 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 3.5% · 163 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 3.5% · 598 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 3.4% · 757 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 3.4% · 176 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 3.3% · 56 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 3.2% · 142 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 3.1% · 91 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 3.1% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 3.0% · 21 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 3.0% · 78 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.9% · 25 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 2.8% · 81 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 2.7% · 659 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Professionals). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland6,389
- Luxembourg5,274
- Ireland4,873
- Germany4,807
- Belgium4,799
- Denmark4,446
- Norway4,237
- Austria4,099
- Netherlands4,031
- Iceland3,875
- EU273,850
- France3,791
- Finland3,769
- Romania3,559
- Sweden3,416
- Spain3,413
- Slovenia3,326
- Italy3,305
- Cyprus3,271
- Lithuania3,221
- Croatia2,890
- Czechia2,871
- Malta2,825
- Poland2,783
- Hungary2,777
- Portugal2,755
- Latvia2,671
- Estonia2,599
- Bulgaria2,359
- Slovakia2,345
- Greece2,321
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Science and engineering professionals group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?