Data science is the field that deals with the exploration, cleaning, and analysis of data and getting meaningful information out of it. Businesses are now realizing that they are sitting atop an untapped mine of data, and they need a skilled workforce in order to get valuable insights from that data. This is the reason why every industry is hiring data scientists, and the demand is continuously increasing.
Glassdoor recently listed the top 50 best jobs in recent times, and data science secured the top spot for the fourth consecutive year with a median base salary of $108,000. This shows the popularity and demand of data scientist jobs in the present time. In this article, we will discuss some points on why data science is such a hot career right now.
Increasing Demand for Data Scientists
Source: Analytics India Magazine
As we know, the demand for data scientists is increasing rapidly, and supply is less due to a lack of a skilled workforce. The situation is the same as it was for computer science around two decades ago when the demand for programmers, web developers, or software engineers was really high, and supply was too low.
Businesses are making data-driven decisions in order to improve customer experience. Technologies are becoming smart enough to have tools like Google Analytics for their marketing insights, Tableau, PowerBI for business intelligence, and excellent programming languages such as Python and R to perform complicated analysis with a couple of lines of code. These tools make data analysis very easy, and that’s the reason why businesses are excessively using them for improving their business operations, and for achieving that, they need skilled employees who can use them efficiently.
Shortage of Skilled Workforce
Source: Ethics Services Pvt. Ltd.
There is a vast shortage of skilled employees in the data science domain. McKinsey Global Institute reported that the US alone would face a shortage of 190,000 skilled data scientists and 1.5 million managers and analysts who can improve decisions using big data. The situation is the same in the case of India, where the technologies and tools exist, but the skilled workforce doesn’t.
Industry leaders in India as well as abroad have accepted that there is a lack of a skilled workforce in the data science domain. As Srikanth Velamakanni, co-founder and CEO of Fractal Analytics, says, “There are two types of talent deficits: Data Scientists, who can perform analytics and Analytics Consultant, who can understand and use data. The talent supply for these job titles, especially data scientists, is extremely scarce, and the demand is huge.”
Pay Scale is Great
Source: HRreview
Data Science is one of the top-paying jobs in the industry. According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a data scientist in the USA is $ 1 lakh per year, while in India, it is INR 9 lakh. These payouts are one of the highest among all the sectors. This is another reason data science is such a hot career right now.
Easy Career Transition for Existing Professionals
Source: The Revolutionary Club
Nowadays, professionals from diverse domains are making career transitions towards data science as this domain requires the expertise of different fields. It is true that the majority of data scientists come from computer science, mathematics, statistics, or natural science backgrounds. Still, people from other backgrounds, such as economics, business studies, and commerce, are also switching their careers. All they need to do is develop problem-solving skills and some basic knowledge of programming.
Omnipresence of Data Science Jobs
Source: TechGig
As data is being generated in all industries, the need for data scientists is also increasing in order to analyze that data and get some valuable information out of it. Industries from healthcare to manufacturing, banking to IT, and EdTech to defence, are all hiring a skilled workforce which have completed a data science course to improve their performance.
Currently, even traditional sectors such as agriculture and other non-tech industries are also using data to improve their efficiency. Therefore, they too need data scientists. So irrespective of your current domain or background, data science and analytics are open for everyone.
Final Thoughts
We have discussed five reasons why data science is such a hot career right now. As data is the new oil, the need for data-driven people is very high. Also, the demand for data scientists will increase in the future as more and more data will be generated by different industries.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. What is data science?
Ans: Data Science is the domain of study which includes exploring, cleaning, aggregating, and manipulating the data to perform data analysis and getting confidential information from it.
Q. What are the career options in the data science domain?
Ans: There are various career options in this domain, including data scientist, data architect, data analyst, data engineer, database administrator, BI engineer, and business analyst.
Q. What is the future of data science?
Ans: As industries are generating more and more data through various processes, the need for data science professionals is undoubtedly going to increase.