Scientists and engineers performing R&D accounted for a 2003–07 period average of 13.3% of all employees at small firms, about twice the 6.1% percentage in medium and large firms. The role of R&D as a business activity in small firms is even more pronounced in the smaller size categories. R&D scientists and engineers accounted for 27.4% of total employment at R&D-performing microfirms on average during 2003–07 and 17.6% of total employment at U.S. companies with 25–49 employees. In the two largest company size categories, R&D scientists and engineers accounted for 7.6% of total employment in firms with 10,000–24,999 employees and 4.9% of total employment at firms with 25,000 or more employees (figure 2).
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