Salary expectations in the field of artificial intelligence are twice as high as employers’ offers

The number of vacancies for specialists in the field of artificial intelligence in Russia is growing by 80%, and in machine learning – by 21%, according to HH.ru. IT companies clarify that the salary expectations of applicants are twice as high as the offers of most employers. According to experts, the market is being “overheated” by large players, primarily banks.

According to the recruiting service HH.ru, in October the number of vacancies searching for specialists in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) increased year-on-year by 80%, to 2.67 thousand, machine learning (ML) – by 21%, to 392. Most often, AI specialists are being sought today by IT companies and system integrators (1.41 thousand vacancies, an increase of 44% year-on-year), telecommunications companies (649 vacancies, an increase of 15%) and financial sector companies (216 vacancies, an increase 100%).

Director of the Edtech hub of the Skolkovo Foundation Natalya Tsarevskaya-Dyakina clarifies that “the growth in demand for AI and ML specialists in the IT sector began in the spring,” and by the fall the trend intensified. The expert names the launch of products based on generative AI by a number of large companies as a driving factor.

The median salary offer for specialists in the field of AI, as specified in HH.ru, at the end of October amounted to 114.4 thousand rubles. per month (growth by 9% year-on-year), and for machine learning – 155 thousand rubles. (an increase of 29%). Among the most popular specialties in the service are ML engineer, digital project architect, and data labeling specialist.

Meanwhile, candidates’ salary expectations are growing even faster: MTS talks about 20–30%, VK – about 10–30%, Ntechlab – about 20%, emphasizing that “we are talking about highly qualified personnel, not entry-level specialists” . The head of educational projects at Kontur, Elena Rybinskaya, cites similar indicators, noting that salary offers in the industry have increased by 10–13%.

A certain increase in the level of salary offers has been observed, but “salary ranges for specialists in the field of AI” have increased more significantly, clarifies Tatyana Zobnina, head of the data analysis and machine learning department at NAUMEN: “So, if previously the range between the minimum and maximum in vacancies was about 50–70 thousand rubles, now it can reach 200 thousand rubles.”

Judging by the materials for the “Data Economy” national project, which is due to be adopted in 2024, the government’s plans to stimulate the development of this area remain ambitious. It is proposed to allocate 389 billion rubles by 2030. to create infrastructure, develop science, introduce technologies, and train personnel in the field of AI. We are talking, among other things, about the launch of new educational programs at universities, which will make it possible to train 70 thousand specialized specialists by 2030. In August, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, estimated the overall shortage of IT specialists at 500–700 thousand people.

The lack of personnel in the field of AI and ML leads to the fact that project teams within IT companies are often understaffed, says the CEO of ZeBrains Ramil Zaineev: “One specialist can play several roles, for example, a developer can participate in the formation of data sets and data markup.”

Due to the lack of qualified AI specialists, businesses have to apply new hiring practices, for example, use training for this, adds Dmitry Krasovsky, director of the T1 Digital Academy: “Targeted additional training of candidates on actual tasks that they will have to solve in the company is a modern and more than a relevant option for hiring in IT.”

According to Ms. Tsarevskaya-Dyakina, many corporations “begin to hire specialists with relevant experience, without even really understanding why.” Kommersant’s interlocutor in one of the IT companies adds that large players, primarily banks, experimenting in the development of AI and ML products, “heat up the market with high salaries, exceeding the average offer by 1.7–2 times.”

Nikita Korolev