Most wanted at tech firms: data scientists

Demand for data scientists is soaring as companies need them to analyse the huge amount of data pouring in from various sources, including social media. In fact, in the IT industry, data scientist tops the chart in technology skills demand followed by product engineering and mobile apps this year, according to software industry body Nasscom.

While a data analyst may look at data from a single source – a CRM system, for example – a data scientist will examine data from disparate sources, look at it from many angles, determine what they mean and recommend ways to use the data, says IBM.

Companies are under pressure to show results and visible business impact from their analytics. They also need to bridge the knowledge gap within their existing workforce, and a good data scientist can help with the communication and change management process, said Venkat Viswanathan, Chairman, LatentView, a Chennai-based company providing business analytics and decision management solutions.

Kamal Karanth, Managing Director, Kelly Services & KellyOCG India, a recruitment company, said that over the last one year, the company has seen a 15 per cent increase in demand for data scientists. The demand is mainly from ITeS companies but fast spreading across other sectors. There is, however, a dearth of talented and skilled candidates in this space. Large companies are now scouting for data scientists from abroad. However, more number of engineering, mathematics and statistics students wants to start a career in analytics and data sciences due to the higher salary.

There are opportunities for nearly 3,000 data scientists in India from IT, e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing and telecom companies. Skills required for data scientist are SQL, Python, R, SAS, and Hadoop, said Alka Dhingra, Assistant General Manager, TeamLease Services, a recruitment company.

An engineering graduate or one with post-graduate qualification in quantitative disciplines such as mathematics, statistics and economics is paid ₹7-10 lakh/annum at the entry level, which is nearly double what engineering graduates in IT service companies earn.

A candidate with 3-6 years of experience in data science gets paid ₹12-16 lakh, which is almost 50-60 per cent more than candidates from other backgrounds. A person with 7–12 years of experience can get ₹25–40 lakh. Most data scientists prefer jobs in either product companies or e-commerce setups, he said.