Research professionals develop innovative coatings with sophisticated performance properties. Their work includes chemical synthesis, such as the design and formulation of new polymer systems into coatings for various substrates and chemical analysis to develop techniques for investigating the characteristics of thin films.
Overall employment of painting and coating workers is expected to grow as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2012. Employment growth for highly skilled transportation painters and automotive refinisher is projected to be faster than for unskilled persons in the Paint & Coating Technology.
An increasing population demanding more manufactured goods will spur employment growth among coating, painting, and spraying machine operators. Similarly, increasing demand for hand-painted tiles and related products will lead to growth among painting, coating, and decorating workers. Employment growth will be limited, however, by improvements in the automation of paint and coating applications that will raise worker productivity. For example, operators will be able to coat goods more rapidly as they use sophisticated industrial robots that move and aim spray guns increasingly as humans do; as the cost of robots continues to fall, they will be more widely used. Legislation has set limits on the emissions of ozone-forming volatile organic compounds and is expected to impede job growth among operators in manufacturing; as these firms switch to water-based and powder coatings to comply with the law, they will introduce more efficient automation.
