2012 Data Professional Salary Survey. Published by

Transcription

1 2012 Data Professional Salary Survey Published by

2 Executive Summary This survey was undertaken by SiSense to help data professionals worldwide understand what drives compensation and job security in the data management and analytics professions. The results published in this summary are based on responses from over 400 data professionals collected online in Q Highlights of the results include: Data professionals are highly educated. 85% of the respondents have some college degree, and 97% have done some college work. As many as 39% of the respondents have a Master s degree, and 5% are Ph.D. s. The data profession is male-dominated: 85% of the respondents are males. At the same time, while in most professions men earn more than women, women in the data field earn virtually the same or more than their male counterparts. The annual earnings of a data professional can range from an average of 55,000 USD for a Data Analyst to an average of 132,000 USD for VP Analytics. On average, American data professionals earn three times as much as those in Asia and twice as much as those located in Africa. Significant differences can also be found between US regions. On average, data professionals in the West earn over 60% more than those in the Northeast and Midwest, and over 30% more than their counterparts in the South. Beyond regional variations in cost of living, some of the difference can be explained by the higher percentage of Data Scientists in the West, where they account for 18% of the respondents, compared to 6-13% in other regions. SiSense,

3 As many as 61% of the survey respondents reported higher earnings in 2012 compared to These higher earnings corresponded with added responsibilities and the need to do more with fewer resources. Forward expectations are even rosier. As many as 78% of the respondents expect higher earnings in 2013 compared to 2012, while only 7% expect lower earnings. Data professionals whose job has been impacted by Big Data report higher average salaries than those that haven t felt the impact yet. At the same time, those impacted by big data are showing greater concern for their future job security. According to survey respondents, dashboard, data visualization, business intelligence, and data warehousing skills are most valuable for securing pay increases and more job options. SiSense,

4 Contents Survey Respondents: Experience... 5 Survey Respondents: Education... 6 Survey Respondents: Company and Job Location... 7 Survey Respondents: Company and Team Size... 8 Data Relationships and Systems... 9 Salaries and Gender Salaries by Education and Experience Salaries by Location Salary Trends Forward Expectations Big Data Impact Increasing Your Value: Product and Technical Skills Increasing Your Value: General Skills Increasing Your Value: Final Words of Wisdom Learn More SiSense,

5 Survey Respondents: Experience While a third of the survey respondents are just getting started in the data profession, 41% have over 7 years of experience and 29% have over ten. 33% 26% 29% 12% Food for thought The data profession could be missing a proper career track. It seems that many professionals choose to exit the field at or around the 6-year mark, moving on to other opportunities. 1-3 years 4-6 years 7-9 years 10+ years If data careers continue to follow this pattern, deployment success rates are likely to remain low. SiSense,

6 Survey Respondents: Education Data professionals are an educated bunch: 85% of the respondents have some college degree, and 97% have done some college work. 32% Moreover, as many as 39% of the respondents have a Master s degree, and 5% are Ph.D. s. 3% 12% 9% 16% 10% 13% 5% Food for thought The data professional of the future could be a business guy. Better software solutions have opened the opportunity for data professionals to take advantage of their business know-how before developing more technical savvy. SiSense,

7 Survey Respondents: Company and Job Location Close to half of the respondents (48%) work for companies based in the US and Canada. Europe provides the second largest representation, with 24% of the jobs located in Europe and 22% working for companies based on the continent. In the US, the Northeast and West regions are Data Hot Beds. Company Location Australia/New Zealand Mexico/Central/South America Middle East Other Africa Asia Europe United States/Canada Job Location 13% 26% Northeast Southeast 26% Midwest 13% West 21% Southwest SiSense,

8 Survey Respondents: Company and Team Size While over a third of respondents (34%) work for companies with less than $50M in revenues, 26% work for companies of over $1B. The number of data professionals in a company is highly correlated with the company size. Data Team Size 14% 15% 16% 20% 19% 12% 4% However, a few smaller companies have very large data teams. These startups and smaller businesses have already identified that Data was key to their success. Food for thought Most Data Professionals work in teams of less than 6 people. Are data professional teams overpowered by other departments such as development or test? > 50 Team vs. Company Size 100% Data Team Size 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% > % 0% < $50M $50-200M $200M-1B > $1B Company Revenues SiSense,

9 Data Relationships and Systems While just over half of the respondents use packaged solutions to work with data, many companies rely on internally developed solutions and third-party services. When it comes to the number of BI/DW systems, 60% of the respondents have three or more and 35% have five or more interfaces. How is data managed? (Respondents could select more than one answer) Third-party Service or Consultation 19% Packaged Solutions 51% In-house Solutions Number of BI/DW system interfaces 64% Food for thought The vast majority of data professionals still interact with too many systems. Data software needs to be better at integrating what they already have, rather than building new platforms 20% 35% or more 20% 25% SiSense,

10 Salaries and Gender The data profession is maledominated: 85% of the respondents are men. Women who are reluctant to join the data analytics field clearly miss out. While in most professional fields men earn more than women, women in the data field appear to earn on par with their male counterparts. Survey Respondents Male 85% Average Compensation (in $US 1,000) Female 15% Food for thought Although men dominate the data profession, women are better recognized. What systemic changes are necessary to establish a gender balance in this field? Female Male SiSense,

11 Salaries by Education and Experience Investing in education does pay off for data professionals. Clearly, the top levels of education earn top dollars. What is interesting to note is that classes matter as must as a formal degree. Those who have attended bachelor and master s classes but have not graduated earn just as much as those who have. At the same time, on the job experience is just as important. On average, professionals with ten or more years of experience earn 80% more than those with 3 years or less. Average 2011 Compensation ($US 1,000) by Education Level 61 High School 66 Average 2011 Compensation ($US 1,000) by Years of Experience 56 Bachelor's Degree or Classes Master's Degree or Classes Doctoral Degree years 4-6 years 7-9 years 10+ years SiSense,

12 Salaries by Location As can be expected, job location has a significant impact on compensation levels. On average, American data professionals earn three times as much as those in Asia and twice as much as those located in Africa. Average Compensation ($US 1,000) by Job Location Significant differences can also be found among US regions. On average, data professionals in the West earn over 60% more than those in the Northeast and Midwest, and over 30% more than their counterparts in the South. Beyond regional variations in cost of living, some of the difference can be explained by the higher percentage of Data Scientists in the West, where they account for 18% of the respondents compared to 6-13% in other regions. Average Compensation ($US 1,000) by US Region Midwest Northeast Southeast Southwest West SiSense,

13 Salary Trends As many as 61% of the survey respondents reported higher earnings in 2012 compared to Only 12% reported lower earnings vs Compensation 20% higher than last year 10-20% higher than last year 7% 7% While most salary increases were in the 1-10% range, 14% reported even higher increases. At the same time, these higher earnings correspond to higher expectations from data professionals. 5-10% higher than last year < 5% higher than last year Same as last year < 5% lower than last year 5-10% lower than last year 10-20% lower than last year 3% 3% 3% 22% 25% 27% More than half of the respondents reported they have more responsibilities (66%) and are expected to do more with less (53%), but only 30% reported they work longer hours. 20% lower than last year 3% Top Challenges (respondents could select two) More responsibilities 66% Do more with less 53% Tighter budget Longer hours 30% 34% More competition 16% SiSense,

14 Forward Expectations As many as 78% of the respondents expect higher earnings in 2013 compared to 2012, while only 7% expect lower earnings Expectations vs Compensation 20% higher than this year 10-20% higher than this year 11% 14% As many as 25% of respondents expect 2013 earnings to be over 10% higher than 2012 earnings. 5-10% higher than this year < 5% higher than this year Same as this year 15% 23% 31% < 5% lower than this year 1% 5-10% lower than this year 1% 10-20% lower than this year 3% 20% lower than this year 2% SiSense,

15 Big Data Impact Big Data is emerging as a factor that influences salaries and job security alike. Big Data Impact on Average Compensation ($US 1,000) Data professionals whose job has been impacted by Big Data report higher average salaries than those that haven t felt the impact yet. At the same time, those impacted by big data are showing greater concern for their future job security. Big Data Impact on Job Security Food for thought As Big Data is starting to show its impact, those that have the right skill set may be positioned to capitalize on the trend, while those that don t have the right skill set may be fearing for their job security. 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Impacted by Big Data Not Impacted Yet Concern about Job Security Not Concerned Somewhat Concerned Very Concerned SiSense,

16 Increasing Your Value: Product and Technical Skills According to survey respondents, some skills are exceptionally valuable for securing pay increases and job options. Product Skills that Add Most Value BI and Datawarehouse Math and Statistical 46% 65% When asked what product skills would be most valuable, the most common answer was BI and Data Warehouse skills (65%). Visualization and Designer Enterprise Architecture/Integration Developer and Web Services 31% 44% 42% As for technical skills, clear value boosters are dashboard and data visualization skills (74%). Technical Skills that Add Most Value Dashboard and data visualization 74% Database programming 46% Cloud deployment and virtualization 41% Enterprise collaboration tools 38% Testing tools 15% SiSense,

17 Increasing Your Value: General Skills It s not only about products and technology. General Skills that Add Most Value Project management and general business skills all play an important role in increasing the potential earnings and job opportunities of data professionals. Project management General business skills 31% 44% Business function expertise 29% Industry-specific expertise 28% Communication 27% People management 25% SiSense,

18 Increasing Your Value: Final Words of Wisdom Lastly, respondents were asked to part their advice for an aspiring Data Professional that is looking to increase his/her job opportunities and earnings in this field. Here are some of the insights provided by our survey respondents. Become a specialist on Big Data. Most organizations have analytics & BI problems they're not even aware of because they don't know what's possible. Find a few of these opportunities and address them, starting with the easiest. Don't be afraid to work your way up. Gain experience using different data types, software & find a good mentor. Understand the business needs for this data as much as you understand the technology that drives it. Make yourself more valuable by being able to speak and respond in terms of the "care-abouts" of your audience. Always try and gain as much commercial knowledge as you can about the company/industry you work in. You need to understand your data, so that you can provide the correct BI to fit the business requirements. SiSense,

19 Learn More About SiSense SiSense is the fastest way to go from data to insights. SiSense delivers an end-to-end Business Intelligence (BI) solution that allows non-technical users to turn mountains of data into actionable intelligence in hours, not days. Gain insights without having to set up complex data warehouse systems, OLAP cubes, or programming. Download a free trial version of the software at SiSense,