Natural sciences managers held about 55,100 jobs in 2014. The industries that employed the most natural sciences managers were as follows:
Research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences
28%
Federal government, excluding postal service
19
Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing
9
Management of companies and enterprises
7
State government, excluding education and hospitals
6
Although natural sciences managers work in many industries, about 1 in 4 of natural sciences managers were employed by federal and state governments in 2014. Many others worked in industries and businesses that rely on public funding through research grants or on other types of public and private funding.
Most of the time, they work in offices, but they also may spend time in laboratories. Like managers in other fields, natural sciences managers may spend a large portion of their time using computers and talking to other members of their organization.
Natural sciences managers have different requirements based on the size of their staff. Working managers who have research responsibilities and smaller staffs may need to work in laboratories or in the field. Managers with larger staffs spend their time primarily in an administrative role and expend little time doing research or working in the field or in laboratories. Field and laboratory work may require traveling, sometimes to remote locations.
Work Schedules
Almost all natural sciences managers work full time. About 2 out of 5 worked more than 40 hours per week in 2014.