At job-search site indeed.com, you can take a look at trends in the use of keywords used in job postings. As you might expect, job postings containing terms related to making sense from data are on the rise.
Here's the growth in job postings mentioning big data:
And here's statistician:
The drop-off in demand for statisticians 2011 seems to be more than compensated by the rapid growth in search for the broader term "data scientist":
Finally, as usual it's hard to search for "R" directly, but pairing it with the companion term "statistician" shows steady growth over the past 5 years:
Once again, the drop-off related to the term "statisician" in 2011 is counterbalanced by an explosion in jobs for "R data scientist" in the last year or so.
Click on the images above for up-to-date charts, or follow the link below to run your own searches at indeed.com.
indeed.com: Job Trends
One should be aware that the winds of fashion blow very strongly in the realm of job descriptions in any field even remotely related to computers. This does not necessarily indicate disconnection from reality: managers will often do their best to force required tasks into the job descriptions of the people they have or can get. 'We have hired hammers; therefore, everything is a nail.'
Posted by: Jorge X. Rodriguez | July 19, 2011 at 18:45
I can't help but notice the scales on the graphs are vastly different. On the first graphs, the job postings for 'statisticians' fell by almost 0.02% of all of the job postings, while 'data scientists' only rose from 0% to 0.003% of all postings. Pretty much the same story is found with the R users in 2011. So am I right in saying that the actual numbers for such jobs fell?
Perhaps if we extrapolate from the growth of 'data scientists' we can reach such conclusions. But I think it's still a bit premature to do so.
Posted by: A Button | July 19, 2011 at 19:33
Hello,
Note that google trends also found an increase for the words "big data":
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=%22big%20data%22&date=1%2F2006%2072m&cmpt=q
Posted by: O. Caelen | July 22, 2011 at 02:20
good
Posted by: geo | December 08, 2011 at 20:00
You could also use the Chrome Extension "Indeed Job Box" to customize your job search keywords like ("Big data" OR "data scientist") and monitoring any new jobs in this industry
Posted by: Dennis Chow | February 14, 2012 at 15:34
I want to start a career in this industry but I'm too paranoid about it being a passing fad? *dilemma*
Posted by: Ardham Grace | March 15, 2012 at 07:06
Pretty much the same story is found with the R users in 2011. So am I right in saying that the actual numbers for such jobs fell?
Posted by: Diego Tristan | December 20, 2012 at 03:56