The Future of AI in the US: How to Address the Talent Shortage and Rising Salary Costs

The problem with technology companies in 2024 when building AI solutions internally and for the market is the need for more qualified talent and rising salary costs in the United States.

The problem with technology companies in 2024 when building AI solutions internally and for the market is the need for more qualified talent and rising salary costs in the United States.

Talent Shortage

ML: According to a report by LinkedIn, the number of machine learning job postings has increased by 74% in the past year. However, the number of qualified candidates has only increased by 49%. This suggests that there is a significant talent shortage for machine learning engineers.

NLP: Natural language processing is a rapidly growing field with a high demand for NLP engineers. However, the supply of NLP engineers is limited. According to a report by Indeed, the average salary for an NLP engineer is $134,729. It suggests a significant talent shortage for NLP engineers as well.

Data scientists: Data scientists are in high demand across all industries. According to a report by Glassdoor, the average salary for a data scientist is $114,539. It suggests a significant talent shortage for data scientists as well.

Rising Salaries

AI engineers: AI engineers are in high demand, and their salaries are rising rapidly. According to a report by ZipRecruiter, the median salary for an AI engineer is $140,000. It is a 20% increase from last year.

Data engineers: Data engineers are also in high demand, and their salaries are rising rapidly. According to a report by Indeed, the median salary for a data engineer is $120,000. A 15% increase from last year.

Talent Shortage by State

California Has the most significant number of AI and data science jobs in the United States. However, California also has the highest cost of living, which makes it challenging to attract and retain talent.

New York is another state with many AI and data science jobs. However, New York also has a high cost of living.

Washington state has a growing AI and data science industry. However, Washington also has a high cost of living.

Texas: Texas has a growing AI and data science industry. Texas has a lower cost of living than California, New York, and Washington, which makes it more attractive to talent.

Massachusetts has a strong AI and data science industry. Massachusetts has a lower cost of living than California, New York, and Washington, which makes it more attractive to talent.

Final thoughts and potential workarounds

The talent shortage for AI, NLP, and data scientists is a global problem. However, the United States is one of the countries that is most affected by the talent shortage. Technology companies in the United States can overcome the challenges of building AI solutions by taking several strategic steps, including:

- Developing a comprehensive human capital strategy for AI talent: This strategy should identify the specific skills and experience the company needs and develop a plan for attracting, developing, and retaining AI talent.

- Investing in training and development programs for AI talent will help ensure that the company's AI team has the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

- Nearshoring some of their AI development work can help reduce costs and access a wider pool of AI talent. (This is an excellent opportunity to build a LATAM presence if done correctly and with the utmost transparency.)

- Offering competitive salaries and benefits to AI talent will help attract and retain the best people.

- Being creative in their approach to recruiting and retaining AI talent: There is no one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one company may only work for one company.

Suppose AI is the central focus of the company's revenues. In that case, I suggest investing in top salaries and equity shares, not to mention the benefits, and 100% remote with occasional face-to-face meetings.

How do I know the industry so well? Over 20 years of context

I have been building software engineering teams and products for over 25 years. My journey in the tech industry began with a vision to create a more transparent and efficient way for businesses to find the right talent. I have held various positions throughout my career, including online data search expert, CTO, and product manager, working on projects such as Avature and the first DevOps management system before ServiceNow. Today, I'm building an AI-driven IT Workforce Automation SaaS to give enterprise-grade-level companies a better way to make teams across LATAM with total control and transparency.

I'm fortunate to have extensive experience and expertise in the field, which have allowed me to develop a deep understanding of the Software Engineering industry's challenges and opportunities in Product and Talent acquisition. I've worked alongside HR Tech industry giants who have impacted my knowledge and understanding of the challenges that now are clear as the industry faces the next leap forward.

My humble scribblings and mindless banter:

Citations:

[1] https://www.dhirubhai.net/news/story/ai-skills-are-on-the-rise-5739828/

[2] https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/data-scientist-salary-SRCH_KO0,14.htm

[3] https://www.indeed.com/q-nlp-engineer-jobs.html

[4] https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Artificial-Intelligence-Engineer-Salary

[5] https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/data-science-skill-shortage-brandon-jenner

[6] https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Glassdoor-Data-Scientist-Salaries-E100431_D_KO10,24.htm

[7] https://www.indeed.com/m/jobs?q=Machine+Learning+Nlp+Engineer

[8] https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/What-Is-the-Average-Ai-Engineer-Salary-by-State

[9] https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/ben-kamphaus_i-know-a-lot-of-data-scientists-have-been-activity-7039620811007135744-tBzT

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[13] https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-fix-your-ai-talent-shortage-marc-paradis

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[15] https://www.indeed.com/q-nlp-engineer-$65,000-jobs.html

[16] https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Artificial-Intelligence-Ai-Engineer-Salary

[17] https://www.dhirubhai.net/advice/0/what-most-in-demand-valuable-big-data-analytics

[18] https://www.indeed.com/career/machine-learning-engineer/salaries

[19] https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Artificial-Intelligence-Engineer-Salary--in-California

[20] https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/top-skills-career-datascience-2021-michael-spencer-

[21] https://www.indeed.com/q-machine-learning-engineer-nlp-$210,000-jobs.html

[22] https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-many-data-scientists-shortage-gregory-piatetsky-shapiro

[23] https://www.indeed.com/q-natural-language-processing-jobs.html

[24] https://onlinesoe.tufts.edu/blog/fixing-the-data-science-shortage/

[25] https://www.indeed.com/q-nlp-engineer-prompt-jobs.html