The demand for big data is clearly on the increase, as enterprises are leveraging it to gain real financial and competitive benefits for their organisations. Yet, the numbers of individuals possessing the right skills seems to be lagging far behind. Gartner has predicted that by 2015, the demand for big data skills will see an estimated increase to around 4.4 million jobs across the globe, however, we are only set to see approximately 1.5 million of these jobs successfully filled.
With this in mind, what skill set with the enterprises of 2014 and 2015 be looking for?
Almost certainly organisations will be looking for talented individuals with the more traditional skills such as; data management, strong analytical and statistical skills, and ideally good business expertise. But, as we move on through the next 12 months, we can expect to see a call for more non-traditional skills, which will include the ability to extract big data, as well as experience in data visualisation.
Here are some facts about Data Science roles:
- 1% of vacancies advertised are for Data Scientists
- The average contractor rate for an experienced Data Scientist is £775, compared to £400 for a Data Analyst
- Permanent salaries for experienced Data Scientist can be as much as £170k, where Data Analysts will command approximately £65k
- 21% higher salaries for Big Data skills, compared to those without
- Huge majority of Data Scientist will hold a PhD in maths, statistics, physics or computer science