💡 Why it matters: Factories making drinks, foods and medicines must prove their products are safe, so labs hire many scientists to test them.
🌍 Around the world
- United States: Jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, faster than average (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). (for chemical technicians).
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1.5M – ₦3.5M
- Mid-career
- ₦3.5M – ₦8M
- Senior
- ₦8M – ₦18M
≈ ₦292k – ₦667k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Indicative mid-career range (our estimate, not yet checked against an official source). Incusim estimate
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: Chemical technicians. Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Chemical technician. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Test samples from the production line
- Compare results to safety standards
- Calibrate and care for lab instruments
- Write clear test reports
- Flag problems before products leave the factory
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Attention to detail
- Accuracy
- Chemistry knowledge
- Honesty
- Organisation
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Short courses in lab quality systems
- Industrial training placement in a factory lab
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Lab technician apprenticeships (Level 3)
- Start as a quality control technician and train on the job
🇺🇸 United States
- Start as a lab technician in a factory
- Quality certificates from professional societies are optional
🇨🇦 Canada
- Co-op placements in manufacturing labs
- Start as a lab technician and move up to quality roles
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Study Chemistry and Biology in school
- 2Take a science degree such as Chemistry or Microbiology
- 3Do an industrial training placement in a factory lab
- 4Join a manufacturing company as an analyst
- 5Grow into lab supervisor or quality manager
⏰ A day in the life
A batch of bottled water arrives in the lab. You test its pH and germs, compare the numbers to the safety limits and sign off the report. A failed batch is held back for the factory to fix.