Data scientists in demand

With data science being applied across businesses with an online presence and the trend of product recommendations, targeted advertising and forecasting demand, the requirement for Data Scientists has shot up by 417 per cent in the last one year.

According to Talent Supply Index (TSI) 2018 by Belong, data scientists dropped from 0.7 in 2017 to 0.2 in 2018. The supply has only seen a 19 per cent increase. Companies are now dedicating significant budgets and teams for R&D in India. While companies like Boeing and SocieteGenerale are investing in startup accelerators for emerging technologies, Bosch, Mastercard, Panasonic, AirAsia and Maersk, among others, are setting up innovation centers. 

Some other key findings of Talent Supply Index July 2018 are:

• Security hiring is heating up: The TSI for Security Engineers dropped from 0.4 in 2017 to 0.3 in 2018. Banking and financial services contributing to nearly 35 per cent of the demand, has increased by 120 per cent while the supply has been able to match up by only 14 per cent.
• Crypto craze spurs demand for Blockchain developers: 2017 saw a meteoric rise in new blockchain companies. Businesses are looking for people with strong fundamental Java/ Python/ Javascript skills coupled with basic understanding of blockchain relevant algorithms, and either Ethereum or Hyperledger. With TSI for blockchain hovering around 0.5, the next best option is to find the fastest learners who possess the basic skills.
• Average job tenure drops by 30 to 35 per cent: There’s an increasing need to focus on retention as senior technology talent is showing signs of increased flux. Engineering managers and architects are moving jobs more frequently and the average tenure for these roles has dropped by 30 to 35 per cent.
• Diversity still a distant dream: The diversity numbers for tech roles still paint a grim picture with female representation being at an average of 12 per cent across roles. Cloud Architect has the worst gender diversity numbers at 6.4 per cent.

The TSI 2018 edition took into consideration a randomised sample set of over 1.5 million jobs spread across the last two years in India along with 5,00,000 plus candidates.

“If the TSI 2017 data proved that we are in a candidate-driven market, the 2018 numbers should be a wakeup call for talent acquisition to adopt data-driven and a candidate-first approach to attract the best talent. If digital transformation is forcing businesses to adapt and innovate, it’s imperative for talent acquisition to reinvent itself too. Companies can no longer solely expect candidates to apply and should invest in going outbound to have a greater chance at attracting this scarce talent,” Rishabh Kaul, Co-Founder, Belong, said.