Why there is a need to fill the skill gap to land in a Hadoop and Big Data career?

The world is witnessing the tremendous learning of Big Data platform and artificial intelligence associated with it. The demand for Analytics skill is going up steadily but there is a huge deficit on the supply side. This is happening globally and is not restricted to any part of geography. In spite of Big Data Analytics being a ‘Hot’ job, there is still a large number of unfilled jobs across the globe due to the shortage of required skill. A McKinsey Global Institute study states that the US will face a shortage of about 190,000 data scientists and 1.5 million managers and analysts who can understand and make decisions using Big Data by 2018. n spite of this, the scarcity of data analytics talent is particularly acute and demand for talent is expected to be on the higher side as more global organizations are outsourcing their work.

According to Srikanth Velamakanni, co-founder, and CEO of Fractal Analytics, 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 title, especially Data Scientists is extremely scarce and the demand is huge. Strong demand for Data Analytics skills is boosting the wages for qualified professionals and making Big Data pay big bucks for the right skill. This phenomenon is being seen globally where countries like Australia and the U.K are witnessing this ‘Moolah Marathon’.

According to the 2015 Skills and Salary Survey Report published by the Institute of Analytics Professionals of Australia (IAPA), the annual median salary for data analysts is $130,000, up four percent from last year. Continuing the trend set in 2013 and 2014, the median respondent earns 184% of the Australian full-time median salary. The rising demand for analytics professionals is also reflected in IAPA’s membership, which has grown to more than 5000 members in Australia since its formation in 2006.

A look at the salary trend for Big Data Analytics in the UK also indicates a positive and exponential growth. A quick search on Itjobswatch.co.uk shows a median salary of £62,500 in early 2016 for Big Data Analytics jobs, as compared to £55,000 in the same period in 2015. Also, a year-on-year median salary change of +13.63% is observed.

The table below looks at the statistics for Big Data Analytics skills in IT jobs advertised across the UK. Included is a guide to the salaries offered in IT jobs that have cited Big Data Analytics over the 3 months to 23 June 2016 with a comparison to the same period over the previous 2 years.