Active Industries & Companies

Major Chemistry Employers

As chemistry is so diverse, it can be difficult to pinpoint companies that are major chemistry employers, particularly as scientists work alongside others in a multitude of fields and often the distinctions between science and engineering becomes blurred. However, some of the more prominent employers of chemists are listed below. Many of them also offer graduate programs, for which applications close at different times throughout the year.

Government
There are a few government divisions that hire chemists to do research, including the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (graduate program here), the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research (graduate program here) and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (graduate program here).

Major Australian Employers
These companies include:
• CSIRO
• Dairy Innovation Australia
• Delta Laboratories
• Dulux (graduate program)

Major International Companies
These companies include:
• AECOM (graduate program)
• AstraZeneca
• BASF
• Bayer
• BHP Billiton (graduate program)
• BP (graduate program)
• Dow
• ExxonMobil (graduate program)
• Fonterra (graduate program)
• Huntsman
• LANXESS
• Mars (graduate program)
• Orica (graduate program)
• Roche (graduate program)
• Shell (graduate program)
• Unilever (graduate program)

As you can see, these companies are quite diverse in their fields- however they are all continually hiring chemists in various departments across Australia and overseas.

Research Facilities
Research-based companies and labs are often much smaller than industrial companies and have a specialised field, however their primary focus is on research and not necessarily marketing a product. They can be linked to universities, as in the case of the Bio21 Institute, or hospitals, like the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. They can also be self-directed, such as the Peter Mac Cancer Centre.

Universities
Universities are some of the primary places chemists tend to find employment, either as lecturers, tutors, researchers- or often a combination of the three. Universities are always on the lookout for new people who can assist with research and hire often, however the certainty of research employment can be unclear depending on funding for departments and projects.