Is the data science community poised to thrive in a post-pandemic environment?
We are without doubt living in tumultuous times, and I’m sure the full effects of the global pandemic on the employment market won’t be fully realised for a long while yet.
However, in times when thick grey clouds of uncertainty and concern loom for so many companies, and subsequently their employees, I believe the Data Science community in particular can look forward to a ray of light breaking through the darkness…
The reason I am optimistic about Data Science as a particular niche within the world of technology to weather this storm well is due to the nature of what Data Science is at heart, and – more importantly – what Data Scientists do for businesses.
As many company leadership teams have felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their revenue, they have been faced with some very tough decisions about how to best equip their businesses for survival during this period. As a result, inevitably many organisations have looked to cut costs by reducing their fixed overheads – and this means decisions about either furloughing or eventually making redundant some of the workforce.
However, once businesses have taken these tough decisions and reduced the number of headcount, they will understandably look to embark upon initiatives to recoup some of that lost output, and that means, for many, commencing projects to implement applications and technology systems focused around automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Data Scientists will be absolutely vital to companies to help them implement such initiatives.
Layered on top of that, one of the core principles of Data Science is to help businesses better understand and extract value from their data. And in times of turmoil such as this, companies being able to make better informed decisions and more precisely understand where they can gain cost efficiencies and save money, has become a pressing priority.
So whether businesses are looking to invest in implementing new AI initiatives to automate processes using machine learning or whether they choose to take cost-cutting measures by using data analysis to understand where they can save valuable cash, Data Scientists have to be reassured of their value and contribution in assisting to execute these strategies.
So whilst the clouds of uncertainty still hover over head for so many, the glimmer of light shining through for the Data Science world is certainly is a welcomed sight for sore eyes.