(Bloomberg) — Tech giants are far from the only companies hiring workers with data science skills. Employers in fields as diverse as media, finance and medicine are searching for machine learning engineers to help transform and enhance their product offerings.
Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health recently stressed that recruiting at NIH, “that’s going to be in artificial intelligence – that’s the place we need to invest.”
Artificial intelligence job postings grew 29% in the 12-month period ending in May, according to career platform Indeed.
“AI is no longer just something that is being talked about,” Indeed Vice President of Product Raj Mukherjee said. “Companies are now using AI and seeing tangible business results from doing so.”
With demand come high earnings.
Within the AI field, machine learning engineers were the most sought after title. The position also topped the list of highest paying salaries for the sector, earning an average salary of $142,859. Engineers with this skill set are responsible for developing technologies behind Apple’s Siri and weather forecasting apps, for example.
AI makes it possibles for machines to perform tasks such as speech recognition. More advanced versions of AI have the ability to learn from experience, known as machine learning. Deep learning, a subset of machine learning that mimics brain functions, is another growing field in the AI realm.
Engineers with that background took the No. 2 spot among top AI jobs. Deep learning is commonly used in autonomous driving, facial recognition and robotics technologies.
Among the top cities for AI Jobs, for the last two years New York City and San Francisco metro areas rank first and second, respectively. Washington DC ranks ahead of San Jose and Seattle rounds out the top five.
Employers have lamented a skills-shortage in the tech sector, saying that it is hard to find workers with the right skill set. This may be encouraging firms to up-skill their workers by offering more on the job training. Last year, on the job training grew 11%, according to ZipRecruiter.
