In the last few years, the demand of skilled professionals against their supply has increased significantly. This is largely credited to the integrated and inter-dependent nature of today's economies and markets. Enterprises seek individuals who can bring transformation to their businesses and drive innovation at large. They are very optimistic towards their digital endeavors and turning to new-age technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Cybersecurity and Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR and VR).

However, the shortage in numbers of skilled people spanning such technologies is creating major strain over business leaders and this demand and supply of talent pool will have a substantial impact on the global economy. Despite these adverse scenarios, Analytics Insight has observed and analyzed the evolving global job market across the technology landscape, average global salary across countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and India, as well as potential skill gaps.

Global Job Openings

Analyzing the open job opportunities worldwide across the aforementioned technologies, we found that open AI jobs are growing at a CAGR of 24.6% from 641,105 open jobs in 2019 to 1,928,68 open jobs in 2023. The open jobs market of Robotics is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% from 2,092,006 open jobs in 2019 to 3,975,147 open jobs in 2023. In Big Data, the open job opportunities are forecast to upsurge at a CAGR of 12.1% from 2,348,620 open jobs in 2019 to 4,165,519 open jobs in 2023. The IoT job market is predicted to rise at a CAGR of 30.5% from 1,336,851 open jobs in 2019 to 5,063,844 open jobs in 2023. In Cybersecurity, the global open jobs market is estimated to increase at a CAGR of 25.3% from 3,241,800 open jobs in 2019 to 10,006,993 open jobs in 2023. And the AR and VR jobs market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 63.0% from 1,632,775 open jobs in 2019 to 18,763,014 open jobs in 2023.

Average Salaries Across Regions

Given the demand of open job opportunities across different technologies, Analytics Insight estimated the average salaries offered across different regions in 2020. In the United States, the average salary of an AI professional is US$1,140,61 per annum. The average pay of a Robotics professional in the country is US$74,587 per annum while a big data candidate is likely to get average pay of US$1,03,214 per annum. The average salary of IoT, Cybersecurity, and AR/VR professionals is US$1,01,541, US$85,422, and US$97,549 per annum respectively.

In the UK, the average pay of an AI professional is US$64,608 per annum, while that of a Robotics professional is US$46,141 per annum. Moreover, the average salary of Big Data, IoT, Cybersecurity, and ARVR professionals is US$69,992, US$55,335, US$64,190, and US$49,699 per annum respectively.

Across the Indian technology market, AI professionals are more likely to receive an average pay of US$13,215 per annum while candidates with Robotics and Big Data qualifications are expected to get US$22,101 and 12,576 per annum respectively. The average salary of an IoT professional is US$9,349 per annum. Besides, a Cybersecurity candidate is predicted to receive US$11,428 per annum whereas AR/VR professionals are likely to earn US$8,352 per annum.

In Canada, the average salary of an AI professional is US$89,934 per annum. Across the region, the Robotics industry is offering an average of US$52,130 per annum while the Big Data is offering an attractive pay of US$89,107 per annum. The average salary of an IoT professional is US$72,897 percent and candidates with Cybersecurity and AR/VR are likely to get US$45,804 and US$49,174 per annum respectively.

Challenges to Evolving Technology Market – Global Skill Gap

Despite the flourishing job markets and attractive salaries, the deficiency of skills that can drive organizational success and economic growth is the biggest challenge worldwide. This global skill gap is majorly increasing due to the lack of awareness and hands-on knowledge at the academic level.

According to Analytics Insight estimations, the global skill gap in the field of AI will account for 66% in 2020, followed by Cybersecurity (64%), IoT (62%), AR/VR (61%), Robotics (60%), and Big Data (58%).

In order to bridge these gaps, academia, organizations and governments as well must carry out innovative ways to nurture future minds and derive value from that to spur economic growth.