Industry Insights

This post is contributed by the Burtch Works Data Science and Data Engineering recruiting teams. To measure hiring demand for data scientists and data engineers, we’ve been surveying data teams twice a year to gauge their hiring plans for Q1/2 and then again for Q3/4.Last year our surveys revealed that 73% of teams were looking to hire in the first half of 2021, which increased to 81% for the second half of the year. So how does the beginning of 2022 compare?

Hiring on Data Science & Analytics Teams: Q1 and Q2 of 2022

Our survey for the first half of 2022 shows that 83% of data teams are looking to hire data scientists and data engineers – a substantial jump up from 73% for the same period last year.

Our respondents spanned over 160 companies across the U.S., and while 17% of teams reported they are holding steady, it is notable that none of the companies we surveyed this year reported that they were planning to cut back their teams. The hiring momentum that picked up during the second half of 2021 is clearly going strong!There has also been a bit of a shift towards permanent hiring since our last survey – 65% of teams responded they are only looking for permanent hires in Q1/2 of 2022 compared to 57% in Q3/4 of 2021. None of the companies we surveyed reported that they were only looking for contract or temporary project-based hires, while 18% of companies reported that they’re looking to hire both permanent and temporary staff.Responses to our third question, regarding whether the hiring is more focused towards adding to headcount (61%), backfilling due to attrition (45%), or temporary/project-based hiring (14%), were similar to our previous survey (respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer). So, it appears that while backfilling is still a significant factor in hiring plans due to the hot market, it hasn’t become a bigger problem than it was last year.

How Data Scientist and Data Engineer Salaries Have Been Impacted So Far

If you’re looking for additional research on how salaries have been affected by this hiring surge, we’ve recently posted some other information that illustrates just how in-demand data scientists and data engineers are right now.At the end of 2021, we examined base salary increases for professionals who changed jobs, and found that salary increases for data scientists and data engineers who changed jobs were quite substantial.In a different study, we also compared base salaries reported in our April 2021 data science & analytics salary study to those gathered up through November 2021, and found that data science and analytics salaries were clearly on the rise throughout 2021.

Salary Increases for 2022

We’re currently finishing the data gathering process for our upcoming 2022 data science & analytics salary report, and especially if current salary trends continue, we should have some very interesting data to share!Burtch Works has been collecting data on salaries for our specialty fields since 2013, and, as recruiters who spend thousands of hours every year talking to employers and professionals in these areas, we’re always keen to share our insights on how the market is shaping up.Keep an eye on the blog for future updates, and we look forward to sharing more data with you very soon!