Demand For Data Scientists Surge By 400% In India

India has seen the demand for Data Scientists surge by more than 400 percent in the past one year, as companies are increasingly using data science capabilities to build the next set of products which will be highly personalized and dynamic. 

According to the 2018 edition of Talent Supply Index (TSI) by Belong, the demand in jobs has surged with data science being applied in some capacity or the other across businesses with an online presence, such as product recommendations, targeted advertising and forecasting demand,

Businesses across verticals have been sitting on enormous quantities of data over the years, in forms such as customer, partner, and internal data .The 2018 report edition took into consideration a sample set of over 1.5 million jobs spread across the last two years in India along with more than 5 lakh candidates.

Rishabh Kaul, Co-Founder, Belong, said, “If the TSI 2017 data proved that we are in a candidate-driven market, the 2018 numbers should be a wakeup call for talent acquisition to adopt data-driven and a candidate-first approach to attract the best talent. If digital transformation is forcing businesses to adapt and innovate, it’s imperative for talent acquisition to reinvent itself too.” 

Kaul added, Companies can no longer solely expect candidates to apply to them and should invest in going ‘outbound’ to have a greater chance at attracting this scarce talent.”

The demand for data scientist has shot up by 417 percent while the supply has only seen a 19 percent increase. 

Companies are now dedicating significant budgets and teams for R&D in India. While companies like Boeing and Societe Generale are investing in startup accelerators for emerging technologies, Bosch, Mastercard, Panasonic, AirAsia and Maersk, among others, are setting up innovation centers.