Employment status of COVID-19 study participants between January and August 2021

PDF versionPDF version

cover of DB-2021-024
Date updated: 2021-10-01
Data Brief 2021-024
Written and compiled by Leila Gonzales and Christopher Keane, AGI

Download Print Version

The pandemic has impacted the economy and employment in many ways. However, the geosciences appear to have been a generally steady field for employment during the pandemic. Looking at non-retired participants in the study, most partic­ipants (83%) remained employed during 2021, while a small percentage gained employment (2%), retired (1%), or became unemployed (1%). In addition, 10% of participants remained in school and 3% remained unemployed.

DB_2021-024 chart 01: Employment status changes, January - August 2021 (Credit: AGI; data from AGI's Geoscience COVID-19 Survey)

By cohort, over 90% of academic faculty, K-12 faculty, non-academic geoscientists and post-doctoral fellows have remained employed since the start of 2021. In addition, a small percentage (2%) of K-12 faculty returned to school over this period. For those geoscientists who were unemployed in January 2021, 24% gained employment, 7% retired, 68% remained unem­ployed as of August 2021. It is important to note, however, that the cohort of unemployed geoscientists who have remained unemployed through August 2021 represents 3% of the total study population over this period. Unemployment rates across cohorts was highest for post-doctoral fellows (5%) and students (3%), and lowest for non-academic geoscientists (1%).

We will continue to provide current snapshots on the impacts of COVID-19 on the geoscience enterprise throughout the year. For more information, and to participate in the study, please visit: https://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/covid19

Funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation (Award #2029570). The results and interpretation of the survey are the views of the American Geosciences Institute and not those of the National Science Foundation.

Related Geoscience Currents

Cover of DB-2022-009

State of select technical skills in academic programs and the workforce

November 18, 2022
In 2021 and 2022, the Geoscience COVID-19 Survey asked about the importance of and proficiency with select technical skills to working in the geoscience profession. In our previous data brief (DB-2022-008), we examined study participants’ views on the importance of these skills to the profession....
cover of DB-2022-008

Changes in perceived importance of select technical skills to the geoscience profession

August 22, 2022
In 2021 and 2022, we surveyed participants in the Geoscience COVID-19 Survey about their views on the importance of select technical skills to work­ing in the geoscience profession. Across participant cohorts, the skills rated most important to working in the geoscience profession were data...
cover of DB-2022-007

Geoscience Median Salaries Decline in 2021

June 27, 2022
Overall, geoscience median salaries declined by 2% between 2020 and 2021, lagging other science occupa­tions which increased by 4%, but not other engineering occupations which declined by 4%. The greatest increases in median salaries within the geosciences were geoscience civil engineers (+8%),...
cover of DB-2022-006

Responding to the Pandemic through Flexible Working Arrangements

June 17, 2022
Throughout the pandemic, work environments have shifted between virtual, in-person and hybrid scenarios. Remote-first work policies, which allow employees to choose their work location for any given day, have enabled workplaces to more quickly adapt to changing pandemic conditions. Furthermore,...
Cover image of DB-2022-005

COVID-19 Impacts Study: Employment Status of Recent Graduates

May 23, 2022
Of all participants in the Geoscience COVID-19 Impacts study, recent geoscience graduates have been the most vulnerable to employment disruptions during the pandemic. However, the study results indicate that the most recent geoscience graduates have either remained employed or gained employment...
Cover image of Data Brief 2022-004

Pandemic Impacts to Instructional Formats through March 2022

May 6, 2022
Lecture course instructional modes During the pandemic, courses, labs, and field activities have rapidly shifted between online, in-person and hybrid modes of instruction in response to pandemic conditions. With mask mandates easing in early 2022 as the impacts of the Omicron surge waned, there...