The American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, recently announced cost-saving measures in light of investment losses, declining ad revenues, and falling institutional print subscriptions to its journals and other publications. In addition to job cuts, the society has capped certain retirement health benefits and reduced general expenses across all operating units.
ACS Executive Director and CEO Madeleine Jacobs notes that although ACS saw the value of its unrestricted reserves fall starting in late 2008, from about $212 million to about $60 million, the society is liquid, with nearly $275 million in cash and investments. Declines in the capital markets and ACS's obligation to fund its pension benefits led to the dramatic drop in reserves that occurred. ACS has been able to restrain the decline in reserves by freezing accruals in the society's defined-benefit pension plan and by capping retiree health insurance.
The society's Publications Division took the biggest hit in job cuts. Of a total of 56 ACS employees who were laid off, 40 worked in the ACS Publications Division.
According to ACS Publications Division Director Brian Crawford, declining ad revenues for C&EN, especially classified job advertising, and cancellation of print subscriptions to ACS journals by institutional subscribers were the driving factors behind the division's cuts.
