Big Data = Big Pay: Earning Potential of Data Professionals in Asia-pacific
Despite the economic uncertainty triggered by COVID-19, APAC’s scarcity of data skills and the growing demand for data literacy is providing job-ready data professionals with big pay days and more opportunities than ever before.
Before we examine how much the average data scientist earns, it’s worth noting that becoming data literate and being prepared with practical data skills that you can use on the job, is not just for those aspiring to become pure data scientists, data analysts, machine learning engineers or AI solution architects. In fact, anyone in any industry wishing to safeguard their future career and on-going market value should be cultivating skills in data right now.
Obtaining skills in data science, big data analytics, machine learning and AI will demonstrate your versatility to employers and help you grow your career in terms of expanding your responsibilities, increasing your salary, and broadening your job prospects. For example, if you work in marketing and can effectively use data in conjunction with more traditional marketing skills to drive better results, you will be far more valuable to employers. You will also be able to adapt, evolve and meet industry demands.
Let’s explore what you could be earning as a data scientist in Australia, Singapore, India and the Philippines:
Data scientist salaries in Australia
Data scientists are a hot commodity in Australia with the average salary sitting at AUD$100,150, an increase of 5 percent from 2019 (Big Cloud Salary report). While a report by Deloitte focusing on occupational and education trends in data science in Australia shows that data professionals with a background in IT have the opportunity to earn an average income of AUD$130,176 between 2021 – 2022.
The high demand for data professionals with practical skills is largely a result of companies and organisations becoming aware that in order to remain competitive, they must leverage the data around them to inform their processes, systems, and decisions. This is why employers across industry sectors are actively seeking to hire industry certified data professionals.
Source: Big Cloud Salary Report
Data scientist salaries in Singapore
In Singapore, data science is one of the fastest growing areas of the job market, with a LinkedIn survey reporting a 17-fold increase in five years. Professionals in the space can expect around SGD$84,000 a year. This figure is continuing to grow with the earning potential reported to be SGD$112,000 plus additional bonuses ranging from SGD$1,000 to SGD$20,000. This makes data science one of the highest-paying jobs in the IT sector in Singapore.
Source: Big Cloud Salary Report
If you are based in Singapore and looking for the fastest way to upskill and secure a new role in the data industry – learn more about becoming a data scientist here.
Data scientist salaries in India
Due to a growing number of start-ups, enterprises and an abundance of data, countries such as the Philippines and India have experienced a steep rise in the demand for job-ready data scientists.
With more than 50,000 job openings in data science, India is one of the largest recruiters of data science professionals in the world. According to Analytics Insight, India has a severe shortage of local professionals with proficient knowledge of AI, machine learning, and user interface/user experience, and the ratio of skilled professionals to jobs available in machine learning is 0.63 and 0.53 in deep learning. PayScale records that the average salary for a data scientist in India is Rs.812,528.
Data scientist salaries in the Philippines
After India, the Philippines is considered to be the next big hub for data science and analytics.
Despite the skills gap in its data science and cyber security sectors, the IT industry in the Philippines is seeing a growth of up to 20 percent in the salaries of individuals possessing these skills. As of May 2020, the average salary of a data scientist in the Philippines is recorded at PHP47,999 per month (Big Cloud Salary Report).
Resources to help you keep up to date with data industry salary trends
If you are trying to understand your earning potential as a data professional, it is important to start understanding the industry demands and salary trends within your region. This is how you can identify which sectors and organisations are demanding data skills right now and where you should focus your job search once you are job-ready.
To stay up to date and compare salaries offered by different organisations and industry sectors for different data roles across Asia-Pacific, there are a number of resources available, including:
The data industry is experiencing rapid growth and as the skills shortage also continues to increase, new data science jobs are evolving on a daily basis and employers across Asia-Pacific are competing to hire the best talent. So, even as the uncertainty of COVID-19 continues to unfold, professionals with a strong practical data skillset can rest assured that they are in one of the best and most agile positions possible.
If you’re looking to get ahead of the curve and become an industry certified data science professional in as little as three months, click here to schedule a call and find out how the Institute of Data full-time and part-time training programs can help you achieve a career in the data industry.