2018 Data Science & Analytics Hiring Survey Results
After taking a look at Attrition and Tenure of data scientists and predictive analytics professionals over the past year, we decided to survey hiring managers to see if the shifts among professionals were reflected in employers’ hiring intentions for the beginning of 2018.Periodically we send out “flash surveys” to our network with a few questions (our SAS, R, or Python flash survey is likely the most well-known), and so we used this method to gather some data from our network of quantitative hiring managers. For more information about the survey categories, see note below.
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As you can see from the results above, we found that the market is very active, with 85.8% of teams planning to hire in the first half of 2018, whether that’s adding to headcount, backfilling roles left vacant due to attrition, or a combination of both.We also took a look at how many teams are expanding their capabilities, which means they’re actively trying to add headcount, and 77.0% of teams are growing (this includes those that are ‘adding only’ plus those that are ‘adding & backfilling’).Although the results of our Attrition & Tenure research showed less data scientists and analytics professionals changed jobs in 2017 than they did in 2016, we were careful to point out that it would not be surprising to see that trend reverse in 2018.Indeed, this year’s Hiring Flash Survey results shows that over 50% of teams are backfilling roles left vacant due to attrition, and I can attest that 2018 has already kept us plenty busy filling data science and analytics roles! It’s always interesting for me to track current hiring trends and see how they impact our hiring market and compensation research, so stay tuned for more updates!Note:Since the survey refers only to the first half of 2018, the “adding” category refers to teams who don’t anticipate turnover during the next couple months, resulting in overall growth of the team. If the team was hiring because they are both adding to headcount AND contending with attrition, then they fall under “adding and backfilling”.Looking for opportunities in data science and analytics, or looking to add to your team? Make sure to connect with us.
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