En una columna de la revista Fortune, escrita por Annie Fischer, mencionan a la ingeniería química como una de las carreras más "calientes". Se anticipa una gran demanda de profesionales de la ingeniería en EEUU, los salarios promedios son altos (alrededor de 73,000 dólares anuales) y la tasa de desempleo de ingenieros químicos es de 0.2 por ciento.

Enlace:
money.cnn.com/popups/2006/fortune/annie_10solved/9.html

Cita:
"Hottest college degrees for getting hired
A reader writes: "Dear Annie: I'm a sophomore in college, trying to decide on a major. I like chemistry and math, and I'm good at them, but I also enjoy learning languages. Can you tell me which kinds of college degrees will be most likely to lead to a good job in three or four years?"

Annie's reply: To graduate with the most marketable sheepskin, you'd do well to apply your math skills, and maybe your chemistry acumen as well, and get a degree in engineering.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that the economy will generate 200,000 more engineering jobs by 2014, and many employers are already noticing a shortage of skilled workers in a variety of engineering fields - civil, mechanical, industrial, you name it. Annual pay for engineers in the U.S. now averages $72,965, well over twice the U.S. average of just under $30,000 for workers in all occupations.

Among the most promising fields now: chemical engineering. Says Mike Reed, an engineer in Pennsylvania: "In my field, there is a 0.2% unemployment rate, and the petroleum industry will be needing 40,000 more engineers (mostly chemical engineers) over the next 10 years. You can write your own ticket in this field. Most of my colleagues are earning six figures.""