It's the economy
I'm going to phone this one in a bit, but I think it's still interesting. In the last few years I've noticed that the academic job ads for chemistry have been pretty thin. It's no secret that academics everywhere delayed their retirements when the markets tanked. On top of that the vast majority of institutions froze hiring and many trimmed their numbers through what little attrition did take place. It's been a brutal few years in this business. But this year, there's been a change. To my eye the academic job ads are back in chemistry, perhaps even up to their pre-recession levels. Everybody needs to look at the economy from their own microcosm and I know this is not a simple issue, but in our little corner of the world I'm seeing some good signs.