IBM Expecting Demand For Data Scientists To Grow By 28% By 2020

A new report by IBM indicates that by 2020, data savvy professionals will be in high demand given the huge investment by tech giants on data science and analytics. According to the firm openings for data savvy professionals is set to increase by 364,000 over the next three years, to highs of 2.72 millions.

IBM Report

Annual demand for data scientists, data developers, and data engineers according to the report will reach highs of 700,000 by 2020 according to the report. The report also states that 59% of new openings will be in the field of Finance, Insurance, professional services as well as IT.

The findings does not come as a surprise given that 19% of all job openings in the finance and insurance sector are for Data Science and Analytics professionals. Professional Services and IT industries on the other hand account for 18% and 17% of all DSA job openings.

Demand for data scientists according to IBM is set to grow by 28% by 2020 given that most companies have started to embrace emerging technologies. Some of the skills that are in high demand on data science and analytics jobs include MapReduce as well as Machine Learning, Apache Hive and Apache Hadoop.

MapReduce professionals earn an average of $115,907 according to the report. Specialists in Apache Pig, Hive, and Hadoop, on the other hand, are earning an average of over $100,000 year.

Recruitment Headaches

When it comes to recruitment Machine Learning, Big Data and Data Science jobs are the most challenging to recruit. The same is down to the fact that these set of skills can create the biggest disruption when it comes to product development and go to market strategies.

According to IBM, it takes an average of five days to find qualified candidates when it comes to Data Science and Analytics jobs. However, most employers looking to embrace the new technology are reportedly ready and willing to pay premium salaries for professionals with expertise in these areas. Some employers are reportedly paying $8,736 above median bachelor and graduate level salaries if they find the right candidates.

IBM in its study found out the high costs of hiring Machine Learning and Big Data professionals remain one of the biggest challenges to most organizations. The fact that once these professionals are hired they need to undergo training before they become productive continues to cause major headwinds. Given the hurdles, IBM in its report states that it takes an average of 53 days to recruit a competent Analytics Manager.