In this report, we have covered Data Science and ML/Artificial Intelligence talent space in the US.
Skills:
As per Glassdoor, 90% of the Data Science job positions require at least one of the skill set – Python, R, and SQL are the most widely used programming languages. In 2019, the Data Scientist position earned a median salary of $106k, a hike of 11% (compared to 2018). On the other hand, data science job postings increased by 7% as businesses increased their adoption of Big data and AI.
There is a moderate to severe skill shortage in the job market, and due to this reason, companies require anything between 54-60 days to hire a candidate. According to LinkedIn, businesses need about 150,000 data skill professionals to meet the current demand. Many organizations are upskilling and reskilling their workforce with tie-ups with universities and MOOC providers to overcome this challenge.
Silicon Valley, which houses the headquarters of many large tech businesses, is the hub for Data cience professionals. Businesses operating in San Francisco offers the highest paycheck for the Data Scientists, followed by New York City. Ironically, there is a talent shortage in these two cities (more than 30K in each city).
The demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) professionals is increasing rapidly. According to a study, 90% of companies in the USA consider AI as their business priority. But there is a shortage of AI professionals not only in the US but across all other regions. Globally there are only 300,000 AI professionals and other 100,000 students getting trained in different educational institutions. Start-ups in the growth stage are willing to pay upto $200k for the right talent.
Lastly, the COVID-19 pandemic that had created havoc across all the industries across all the regions has had little impact on the data science jobs. At the peak of the pandemic (first quarter of 2020), when all the tech jobs positions declined, AI job postings had registered a double-digit growth rate (11%). AI-related companies in the United States have raised close to $7bn during the same period. Down the line, in the post-COVID-19 world, more organizations will adopt Big Data, and Analytics and demand for AI and Data Science professionals will further increase.
