20-Year Prospect
Job growth over the next decade is charted to be lower than the national average. But with increasingly stringent regulation of pesticide companies and the public's growing demand for transparency in the treatment of their food, there's sure to be some work to be done in the R&D department as well as the testing and regulation areas.
As the issue is pressed, there may also be more career interest in the noble pesticide sciences, which would potentially open up more teaching positions. Highly trained individuals who want more than anything to work with pesticides should be able to break in with ease and make their mark in this field.
And hey, organic pesticides are still pesticides―if we experience the shift towards natural pest control in agriculture, like a lot of those crunchy organizations want, the field as a whole may shift in a biological direction. Big shifts in the industry mean tons of new research and development. That means a lot of new work for you scientist types.
Basically, so long as we're growing our food, we'll need something to keep the creepy-crawlies out. We're not likely to stop needing food anytime soon.