Chemicals

The chemicals sector is made up of companies that generate industrial chemicals. It is a diverse industry, essential to our modern economy, and involves converting raw materials into a wide range of products or raw materials for other manufacturing industries.

There are nearly

jobs in this sector in Hull and East Yorkshire

This accounts for

of jobs in the region

Did you know?

With approximately 1,925 people employed by companies in the chemicals sector in Hull and East Yorkshire, it is the second-smallest sector. Since 2015, employment with companies in the sector has decreased by 27%, a reduction of approximately 710 jobs.
The chemical sector is a top exporter, sending £61bn of manufactured goods abroad each year.
The chemical sector directly employs 154,000 highly skilled people in the UK, who earn 41% more than the average UK worker.
The Humber is the 2nd largest chemical production cluster in the UK.

Source: BRES (2025), Chemical Industries Association

Will there be opportunities available?

The chemicals sector provides many of the technologies needed to transition to a low carbon economy, and their highly skilled, technically advanced workforce can play a leading role in industrial decarbonisation.
The drive to net zero and the introduction of new digital technologies is expected to alter the day-to-day operations and working practices of chemical companies in the coming years and presents an opportunity to engage the next generation of highly skilled workers.
Around 36% of the workforce in the chemical sector are over the age of 50 and will need replacing as they retire, creating opportunities for people to join this important and well-paid industry.
There are more than 1,000 employees and contractors on-site every day at Saltend Chemicals Park in East Yorkshire. The park is home to a cluster of world-class chemical and renewable energy businesses. Its continued expansion is creating more highly skilled and well-paid jobs in the region's chemical sector.

Source: Future Skills for the Chemical Industries, px Group

Check out careers in the Chemicals sector in Career of the Week

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The Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers. It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.

Use the boxes below to simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.