Employers are desperate for data scientists

data scientist

The demand for data science is growing fast and employers are desperate for data scientists. Recruiters are struggling to find data scientists that can help them move their digital ambitions forward.

Developer recruitment platforms report seeing a sharp rise in the demand for data science-related IT skills.

The latest IT Skills Report by developer screening and interview platform DevSkiller recorded a 295% increase in the number of data science-related tasks recruiters were setting for candidates in the interview process during 2021.

So, this fuelled the growth of Python demand for which grew by 154%. Python is a programming language popular within data science and machine-learning applications.

Data analysis was seen in 32.69% of data science coding tests. “The rise in popularity of data science comes as little surprise given how valuable data has become to companies across the globe,” said Jakub Kubryński, CEO at DevSkiller. “The number of tasks in our testing catalogue related to Data Science and Python grew in 2021 by 158.33% and 113.33% respectively.”

Top IT Skills Report - Employers are desperate for data scientists
Top IT Skills Report

DevSkiller’s findings were based on 102,869 coding tests sent through the DevSkiller platform between 1 December 2020 and 1 December 2021.

The annual report aims to capture hiring trends from the global tech industry. For that, it is assessing the types of skills candidates are assessed on by recruiters.

Cybersecurity and QA (quality assurance) were also among the fastest-growing skills, along with programming language PHP, Scala and Blockchain.

Top IT Skills report: hiring insights - Employers are desperate for data scientists
Top IT Skills report: hiring insights

The pandemic of 2020 caused unprecedented disruption to the world. In 2021, the dust had finally started to settle and the figures emerged of the real effect on life, technology and business in the “new normal.” These changes and the challenges that came with them certainly make for interesting reading – not least in the world of technical recruitment.

Dubbed the ‘Great Resignation,’ according to the latest JOLTS report (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey), 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September 2021, compared to 2.1 million per month at the start of 2020. September being the sixth month in a row that the figures had continued to rise.

The great resignation
The great resignation

The figure for November itself, showed a record 4.5million workers quitting their jobs. About 3% of the total workforce.

The reason for such a mass walkout was put down to people no longer wanting to work, so-called, “unreliable” positions that may leave them without a wage (or with a relatively small one) should another lockdown occur.

But how has all of this affected the technical hiring industry, especially with so many of its workers operating remotely?

The globalized IT workforce

In recent years, demand for developers and engineers has soared in most areas of the technology industry. With more technical positions available now than ever before, developers can demand huge salaries. In particularly niche roles, DevOps for instance, wages have soared, as the amount of qualified candidates remains scarce. But the pandemic has had a huge effect on this too.

For the first time ever, remote work is not only being talked about as a serious long-term option, but its popularity has also exponentially increased, due to the extremely rare working conditions brought about by the outbreak of COVID-19. This trend has had a knock-on effect on the tech talent landscape. Employers no longer need to search for qualified candidates ‘in their own backyard’.

With online technical assessments, video interviews, and the ability to hold a conference call from one’s own home, technical recruiters have started to search for developers further afield, and with surprising results. There has been an increase in the number of western tech companies, making hires in countries that before, were not on their radar.

Wrap up

In conclusion, this is the actual trend right now where employers are desperate for data scientists and how to workforce is moving with the great resignation event.

As a .NET/Microsoft developer, I see there are a lot of jobs for my skills and I think if a company wants a stable environment for sure invest in a digital transformation and Microsoft tools and philosophy is the right and more convenient way.

I like to read your comment about it. Please leave your message below or in the forum.

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