September Data Science Job Market Report (2024)

In August 2024, the data science job market experienced significant changes, highlighting a dynamic and evolving landscape. Key insights from our previous August Data Science Job Market Report (2024) include:

• Significant Job Growth: Data science job postings surged 130% year over year, indicating a solid recovery from last year’s lows.
• Rise in AI and Research Roles: Research scientist positions grew by 30% month over month, while AI engineering roles increased by 7%.
• Big Tech’s Growing Presence: FAANG and Big Tech companies saw a dramatic 280% rise in data engineer openings, signaling a return to prominence for these firms in the data science field.
• Layoffs Surge: After a decrease in tech layoffs throughout July, early August saw a 130% increase, highlighting potential volatility in the job market.

Job openings for data scientists, data analysts, data engineers, and ML engineers declined in August 2024.

Machine learning engineering positions saw the most significant decline, dropping by 42.5%. Data engineering roles experienced the smallest reduction among those mentioned above, at 20.6%.

In contrast, the same period from July 2023 to August 2023 saw a positive trend in job openings for most data-related positions, with the exception of machine learning engineering, which experienced only a slight decrease of -1%.

The movement in the job market for these roles in 2023 highlights a period of growth and stability, contrasting sharply with the decline in job openings observed from July 2024 to August 2024. This shift suggests a significant change in demand and market conditions over the past year.

On a more positive note, new opportunities have emerged in other data-related jobs. Job openings for BI engineers and analytics engineers rose by 13.9% and 15.4%, respectively, in August 2024.

The share of job openings from FAANG companies in August 2024 represents 4% of the total job market, a significant increase from 2.2% in July 2024.

Throughout 2024, the share of job openings from FAANG companies has fluctuated, peaking in May. The share of job openings in August is closer to the levels seen in April, with the lowest point recorded in March.

Job openings within FAANG companies surged by 21% from July to August 2024, contrasting sharply with a 34.3% decline in non-FAANG job openings during the same period. This significant increase in FAANG job openings highlights a strong demand for talent within these tech giants, even as other sectors face a downturn.

The job market appeared more optimistic in this aspect during the same period last year (July 2023 to August 2023), with FAANG job openings increasing by 41% and total job openings rising by 50%. While both FAANG and total job openings surged last year, the current year shows a slowdown in the broader market, even as FAANG companies continue to increase hiring.

In August 2024, Google posted the most job openings among FAANG and other top companies, with Meta close behind.

Among August 2024 job postings, the top five companies with the largest shares of job openings are predominantly from MAANG, with the exception of Netflix. Notably, Microsoft has secured the fifth position, accounting for 13.1% of the total job openings among the listed tech companies above.

The number of job openings at some top companies, including Netflix, Airbnb, and Apple, remained almost unchanged from June to August. This suggests that job postings from previous months could still be active, particularly for those with lower volumes, such as Netflix and Airbnb.

In contrast, Google has significantly ramped up its hiring, with job openings increasing by 37% from the previous month, making it the company on the list with the largest upsurge. Amazon has also seen a notable increase, with job openings up by 12%.

Meanwhile, Meta has experienced a reduction in job openings over the past few months. Despite this downturn, it maintains a high volume of job listings compared to other companies.

Despite the rise in FAANG job openings, layoffs remain a critical part of the larger job market narrative in August 2024. While these layoffs seem counterintuitive to FAANG’s hiring increase, they may actually signal a shift in priorities within the tech industry.

In August 2024, several major companies announced significant layoffs:

• Intel kicked off August with a substantial cut, laying off 15,000 employees in the San Francisco Bay Area. This move aligns with the company’s strategy to reallocate resources from manpower to areas such as artificial intelligence.
• Cisco recently laid off 5,900 employees. In June 2024, the company had expressed a strong interest in investing heavily in AI-related tech startups like Cohere, Mistral, and Scale. This recent move could indicate a shift in priorities toward focusing more on AI investments.
• Grail, a biotech firm, reduced its workforce by 350 employees, citing restructuring and a general reduction in spending.
• Apple cut around 100 jobs in its Books and News apps divisions as part of a strategic shift in priorities.

In total, August 2024 saw approximately 22,000 layoffs across the United States.

The data science job market in August 2024 presents a mixed picture. On the one hand, FAANG companies continue to expand their hiring, suggesting that major tech firms are maintaining a strong demand for data-related roles.

On the other hand, the broader job market has slowed down, with a reduction in overall job openings from the previous month. For job seekers, applying to FAANG companies or pursuing emerging data-related roles presents promising opportunities in the current job market.