Over the past few years, data has become the most crucial tool businesses have at their disposal. After all, it’s the foundation that makes game-changing improvements to agility, innovation, and decision-making possible.
But data is a raw and often messy resource; it needs to be cleaned, organized, and properly directed before generating any value. This means to unlock your data’s powerful potential, you need people on your team who know how to work with it. It’s the job of a Data Engineer to turn the mountains of data your organization collects into information that can be digested, analyzed, and mined for useful insights.
Data engineering is a massive and extremely specialized industry that’s only growing, with a current CAGR of over 17%. As more and more businesses invest in data strategy, demand for these skilled data mavens is set to expand rapidly too. In fact, the market for data-related roles—including database admins, architects, and engineers—is on track to grow by 9% between 2023 and 2033.
But good Data Engineers don’t grow on trees, and skyrocketing demand for their skill sets will only make them more difficult to attract and retain going forward; especially if they’re working with leading, fast-growing data platforms like Databricks.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the challenges with finding Databricks talent and how your business can overcome these hurdles to attract and retain top talent more effectively. Plus, find out how Revolent can help you fast-track the process of sourcing delivery-ready Databricks Data Engineers to help you achieve your data goals.
Hiring Databricks talent: The challenges
With the use of Databricks growing across the world and demand for Data Engineers on the rise, hiring and retaining Databricks talent can be a real challenge with serious consequences.
A recent study of C-suite executives, chief architects, and data scientists highlighted how these skills gaps are hampering progress on data and AI projects for many organizations. When asked about improving their company’s data strategy, respondents cited investing in talent as the number one priority, with 39% naming talent as their main concern. In the same report, 40% of respondents said their biggest data and AI challenge was equipping staff with the skills needed to use these tools, further showcasing the ripple effect this skills gap is creating.
To put themselves in the best position, businesses looking to snap up Data Engineers with Databricks experience need to be aware of the hurdles they face on their talent acquisition journey.
High demand
First and foremost, there’s high demand throughout the data engineering marketplace. Databricks has enjoyed a spike in popularity in recent years, cementing its place as a leading data and AI platform. And, of course, more users doing more with their data creates a greater need for skilled professionals who can leverage its capabilities. This classic supply-and-demand crunch is putting pressure on an already relatively small pool of professionals, fueling competition among companies and making it difficult to attract and retain professionals with the right skills.
Specialized skill sets
Getting the most out of Databricks requires a specific skill set that combines product knowledge, data handling expertise, experience with data science, and a strong grasp of cloud computing. Finding individuals with this mixture of skills can be challenging, especially as a great Data Engineer profile brings together hard technical expertise, commercial knowledge, and soft skills.
Plus, if your business works in an industry that comes with its own particularly complex brand of expertise, regulations, and processes (like healthcare, manufacturing, or finance, for example), then you’ll ideally want a Databricks professional who has some experience in your ecosystem—narrowing your potential candidate pool even further.
Rapid advancements in the data field
The world of data engineering and data science is constantly evolving, with new tools, technologies, and techniques emerging all the time. Databricks professionals need to stay updated with these advancements to stay relevant; a potentially arduous task given the rate of change in this cutting-edge area of tech.
Keeping up with new developments and revamped best practices in the data engineering space when you’re an in-demand professional in a busy role can be tricky. If a candidate hasn’t had time to take in the latest updates or earn the newest certifications, it can mean their skill set doesn’t align with what a prospective employer needs.
Limited talent pool
The number of professionals who have the necessary skills and relevant experience to work with Databricks is limited, particularly when you size it up against actual demand. As well as being a highly specialized career, the role of a Databricks professional exists within a very fast-moving industry—one that traditional training institutions like universities often struggle to keep pace with. Despite the growing jobs market, data and AI are relatively new areas of study in the grand scheme of education, and as a result, not enough new data professionals are entering the market to make up the current shortfall.
This overall scarcity of talent makes finding potential candidates that fit the bill a real challenge and can result in long, time-consuming hiring processes that prevent businesses from moving forward with critical data projects.
Stiff competition
Due to the scarcity of Databricks talent available, competition between businesses that want to hire them is fierce, and with multiple companies chasing every candidate, the winning suitor is often the one with the deepest pockets.
Competition for talent is continuing to drive up salaries as companies try and outdo each other to offer the most attractive compensation package. As well as pricing out many organizations that can’t afford to offer inflated salaries, this competition can also impact retention, with poaching a common tactic used to get around the lack of active candidates.
5 tips for sourcing and retaining Databricks talent
Faced with a stunted and competitive talent market, there’s a lot for businesses to think about when it comes to hiring the right Databricks professionals for their team.
But it’s important to remember that hiring is only half the battle: in a competitive landscape, businesses need to put just as much effort into retention to keep Data Engineers happy and under their roof. A recent survey found that 97% of Data Engineers are frustrated with their current role, with a whopping 70% looking to leave their jobs within the next 12 months.
Here are five steps that your business can take to attract and retain top Databricks talent more effectively.
1
Invest in continuous learning and development
Continuous upskilling isn’t just good for your business. It’s also a great way to show your Databricks pros that you’re invested in their growth and development—something that all top tech professionals highly value in an employer.
Make sure you’re helping your Databricks professionals stay up to date by offering comprehensive training programs on the latest Databricks features, best practices, and industry trends, funding training and exams to get them certified, and pairing experienced Databricks experts with newer hires to supercharge their learning through mentorship and foster a collaborative culture.
2
Create a strong data culture
There’s nothing more frustrating for data professionals than working hard to squeeze valuable insights from data, only for it to get overlooked. Creating a data-driven culture within your organization is crucial not only for the productivity and contentment of your team, but also to the long-term success of your data strategy.
Fostering a data-driven culture where these insights are valued and used to inform strategic decisions will help make sure you’re getting the best return from your investments in both data platforms and professionals. Offer regular feedback to your data team on what’s been useful and what impact their work has had to motivate them and give teams constructive guidance to help them improve their reporting.
3
Develop an attractive compensation package
In a competitive hiring market, salary will be an unavoidable part of the conversation when trying to onboard Databricks talent. But a competitive paycheck isn’t the only way to attract great candidates. Today, many professionals are putting more stock into work-life balance, wellbeing, and personal growth. Finding out what a great candidate wants from their role and working out a package that suits their professional and personal requirements is the best way to show how keen you are to bring them on board.
It’s worth doing some research to find out what your competitors are offering and thinking about what you can bring to the table to appeal to candidates. Take into account factors such as flexible, hybrid, and remote working arrangements to accommodate different kinds of lifestyles, showcase your learning and development investments, and outline the perks that set you apart, whether that’s financial incentives like retirement plans or wellbeing benefits like health insurance or PTO.
4
Build a strong employer brand
Searching for candidates takes time and eats up resources, but by building your employer brand, you can put your business in front of Databricks professionals and ensure you’re top-of-mind when they’re thinking about making a career move.
One way to put your company out there as an employer of choice is to use social media platforms to share company culture, employee stories, and job opportunities. Get involved in online Databricks-related spaces and channels to show your interest in the platform and connect with professionals.
Encourage employees to do the same, either by sharing positive experiences on social media or engaging with the online and IRL Databricks community (such as conferences and user groups) to attract the interest of potential candidates.
5
Prioritize employee experience
The most effective way to retain Databricks employees (and attract new ones) is to create a positive, engaging employee experience for your Data Engineers. Keep an open dialogue about how things are going, what could be done differently, and what you can do to make things better for your data experts.
Conducting frequent catch-ups where employees can share feedback and air concerns will help you get ahead of any issues and give you dedicated time to recognize your team’s achievements.
As well as these more informal check-ins, you should regularly carve out time to discuss career development, highlight career paths and opportunities for advancement, and help employees achieve their professional goals.
Find and keep Databricks talent the Revolent way
If you’re looking to hire Databricks talent that can make an impact from day one and grow with your business long-term, Revolent’s unique Data Engineer training and placement program could be the answer.
Revolent hires, trains, and places deployment-ready Data Engineers in your business, giving you access to certified Databricks talent without the hassle or upfront investment.
As a Databricks Consulting Partner, Revolent has the expertise required to source and train the talent you need to drive your data projects forward and make the most of your investment in the platform. And best of all, there’s no need to worry about retaining your new Databricks experts—83% of our professionals convert to our clients’ teams at the end of their placement, at no extra cost.
“This program will be transformative for the Databricks talent market,” said Don Lynch, Chief Customer Officer at Revolent. “With so many organizations looking to tap into Databricks, there’s a huge shortage of specialists out there. Without that expertise, Databricks customers and partners that serve them are struggling to use the platform to its fullest potential.
“We hope that by creating new, business-ready professionals and putting that certified, enthusiastic talent right where it’s needed, we’ll be able to plug some of those skills gaps and help Databricks customers get the most out of their investment.”
Ready to level up your data and AI capabilities with certified Databricks talent?
Find out how Revolent can help you build a certified, deployment-ready data and AI team with zero capital investment, while mitigating risk and boosting retention.
