Who is the biggest employer of scientists in the modern world?

Question: Who is the biggest employer of scientists in the modern world?
- Keywords:
  career,
  employer,
  work
Asked by gmelion to Austin, Kirsty, Nicola, Nike on 21 Jun 2012.
- Nike Dattani answered on 21 Jun 2012:
  
  Most scientists work at universities, but companies like Microsoft and Google also hire lots of scientists !
- Kirsty Ross answered on 21 Jun 2012:
  
  I’d say that the biggest employers of scientists in the world are the pharmaceutical industry. Some of the big pharma companies have been downsizing in recent years, but there are thousands of small to medium sized start up companies, in addition to contract research organisations. Governments also employ thousands of scientists, like the US Department of Defence and the UK’s NHS. Universities are probably the next biggest employer after these. This isn’t even counting all the careers where a scientific training can help, such as patent law, teaching, clinical research and consulting.
  
  Being a scientist gives you loads of career options, even if you don’t want to do research anymore!

Question: Who is the biggest employer of scientists in the modern world?