How to become a Chemist
Official title: Chemists
Chemists conduct research, improve or develop concepts, theories and operational methods, or apply scientific knowledge relating to chemistry, to develop new knowledge or products and for quality and process control.
Main tasks
- Conducting research and improving or developing concepts, instruments, theories and operational methods related to chemistry
- Conducting experiments, tests and analyses to investigate chemical composition and energy and chemical changes in various natural or synthetic substances, materials and products
- Developing procedures for environmental control, quality control and various other procedures for manufacturers or users
- Conducting programmes of sample and data collection and analysis to identify and quantify environmental toxicants
- Participating in interdisciplinary research and development projects working with chemical engineers, biologists, microbiologists, agronomists, geologists or other professionals
- Using micro-organisms to convert substances into new compounds
- Determining ways to strengthen or combine materials or develop new materials
- Reproducing and synthesizing naturally occurring substances and creating new artificial substances
- Preparing scientific papers and reports
Ways in
- University: Science degrees, Offered by 21 universities in Hong Kong
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
- About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Chemist?
Ways in include: Science degrees.
Do you need a degree to become a Chemist?
Usually. 88% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a Chemist?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026