There’s no clearer sign of a talent shortage than when college graduates with computer science degrees and little to no work experience are receiving offer letters with six-figure salaries.
This is precisely what we’re seeing right now in the fields of data science, artificial intelligence, and cyber security. In fact, we just completed a project for a client that was offering $130k-$140k annual salaries for people with data science project work and a computer science degree. Some candidates felt lowballed. That’s the world we live in now.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, the job prospects for “Computer and Information Research Scientists” are extremely rosy. The projected growth rate for these roles from 2018 to 2028 is 16% compared to the 5% average growth rate for all occupations.
The demand for these roles and the salaries that candidates are commanding have led to a career shift for many highly-skilled professionals in the workforce. We’ve seen traditional Java software developers learn Python and apply for analytics roles.
Popular job titles that reflect this rising trend include: machine learning engineer, data scientist, and data software engineer.
What Is Fueling The Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security Jobs Trend?
We have an oil & gas client that does predictive analytics. They map troves of data that they collect from courthouses, city planners, and other sources, and they use it to make recommendations on where companies should drill.
Our client is similar to many companies who are sitting on (or acquiring) huge data sets and building models to help them make smarter decisions.
In terms of AI, there are Austin-based companies like SparkCognition, which determines for businesses what type of AI they need, and then they hire engineers to build the AI based on the designated requirements.
Whereas companies use data and AI to grow their bottom line, they hire in cyber security to protect their bottom line. Security breaches and data asset vulnerabilities are real problems that companies are solving for, and there are a dearth of qualified candidates to fill the open job reqs.
This problem won’t go away anytime soon.
Solving For The Shortage In High-Tech Jobs
At recruitAbility, we spoke about these jobs beginning in 2018 when we started seeing a growing demand. Previously, we had placed Machine Learning Engineers and Data Scientists at companies all over the U.S., but the wave was just beginning.
In the last six months, there’s been a tremendous spike in job postings and companies expressing an interest in the software and hardware side of artificial intelligence, in particular.
If your company is hiring in these areas – or you’re just curious how your company can benefit from these new technologies and approaches – reach out to us at sales@recruitability.ai.
