If ever there was a gold rush for data scientist jobs, India would be ground zero—or almost.
After all, the country now accounts for one in 10 such openings in the world. Indeed, with nearly 90,000 vacancies, India is the second-biggest analytics jobs hub after the US, a recent study by skilling platform Edvancer and Analytics Magazine India revealed. The figure marks a 76% jump from the previous year.
“With artificial intelligence disrupting almost all industries, demand for skill sets in data science, machine learning, and analytics is increasing at a very fast pace,” said Aatash Shah, co-founder and CEO of Edvancer.
“Job creation in other sectors, especially IT, has slowed down and this makes it imperative for people to now re-skill themselves in emerging new technologies…if they have to remain relevant to employers,” Shah said. Especially since new roles that don’t even exist today will start mushrooming.
Where are the jobs?
Most data science and analytics jobs in India can be found in Bengaluru. The IT hub in southern India accounts for 27% of all such roles, up from a quarter last year.
Tier-II cities, too, marked a huge uptick in such roles from 7% to 14% between 2017 and 2018, as startups now increasingly operate out of these locations, the study noted.
Openings in this category are spread across sectors ranging from hospitality and automobiles to finance, and not just the hi-tech industries.
In fact, at 41%, the banking and financial sector accounted for most such jobs, even though its share fell from last year’s 46%. The energy and utilities sector logged the highest uptick this year, contributing to 15% of all analytics jobs as opposed to 11% a year ago.
The median annual salary for analytics roles is Rs10.8 lakhs ($16,092), with a majority (27%) belonging to Rs6 lakh to Rs10 lakh range.
Who are they looking for?
Although four in 10 jobs in the sector require a post-graduate degree, nearly half (48%) just need a bachelor of engineering (BE) or bachelor of technology (B.Tech).
In terms of experience, nearly two-thirds of the jobs require less than five years of hands-on knowledge. Fresh graduates with less than a year’s experience are eligible to apply for 17% of the jobs listed.
