“I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google in today’s New York Times front page story on the demand for data savvy grads. “And I’m not kidding.”
Demand for quants is growing, as we in analytics have known for some time. However when you make the front page of the Times (OK, it’s old media but it still gets a lot of attention), the nes is going mainstream.
All of this will heat up the talent wars for the best analysts. One of the most common questions I hear in the field is, “How do I find great analytics people?” One thing is for sure: it’s not going to get any easier. Perhaps forward-looking companies will begin to recruit promising talent farther upstream — at the undergraduate or master’s level — and then nuture them through the PhD years.
What do you think? Are you finding it harder to find fresh talent? Are there any secrets yu are willing to share? Hey, we had to ask.
