Job seekers in today’s competitive labor market are feeling whiplash compared to flush times during the Great Resignation, but new compensation data shows some roles are on the rebound.
Businesses are on a hiring tear for three roles in particular — machine learning engineers, technical recruiters and office managers — so much so that they’re raising the salaries they need to pay in order to attract the right talent.
That’s according to a new data analysis from Greenhouse, the hiring platform, and Pave, a compensation management platform.
The growth in salary offers for these types of roles reflects companies “trying to be proactive in building [artificial intelligence] capabilities out within their organizations and thinking about how they can leverage AI to either streamline or make the company more efficient,” says Jeremy Moulton, Greenhouse’s vice president of corporate development and analytics.
“Companies in general are just really hyper focused on profitability and how they can make their companies the most efficient,” he adds.
Here’s how much salaries have changed for these jobs, and what that means for future hiring demand.
Machine learning engineer
Pay for machine learning engineers has steadily grown for more than a year now. As of January 2023, the median offer for this role paid $148,300 a year; by April 2024, median offers are coming in at $226,944, or a 53% jump.
Not all tech jobs are in such high demand or command such a high salary. For comparison, median pay for software engineers grew by 4% during the same time period, from $168,000 in January 2023 to $175,125 in April 2024.
Technical recruiters
Recruiters were hard hit during layoffs beginning in 2022 as companies scaled back on their hiring efforts. But a recent uptick in recruiter pay, especially within tech, indicates businesses are back to staffing up, and they’re willing to pay up to find the people who’ll make their next great hire.
As of September 2023, median offers for technical recruiters paid $83,750, but that salary has jumped 56% to $130,750 as of April 2024.
The growth in pay indicates that having AI skills, or even the ability to recognize them in a candidate, is a premium in today’s job market, Moulton says.
Knowing how to use AI can give you leverage in working more effectively or in innovative ways, and for recruiters, it can give you a better sense of when candidates are well-versed in the skillset.
“Technical recruiting is such a powerful role within organizations,” Moulton says. “You really want — at the onset of your sourcing — recruiters who are able to pinpoint and find those candidates and do an initial assessment on what their skillsets are, to really be able to pull in those best quality candidates.”
Office and facilities manager
Many workplaces have settled into their hybrid arrangements, and as employees spend more consistent time in offices, businesses are hiring staff to manage their building spaces.
As a result, median pay for office and facilities managers has grown the most in just a few short months: In January 2024, the median office manager job paid $87,000, though it’s grown by 15% to a salary of $100,000 as of April.
Moulton says he expects hiring demand and salaries to continue upward before leveling out, especially for office managers once businesses have staffed up on those needs.
More broadly, data indicates hiring is growing at a sustainable rate. In the last three months, Greenhouse says over 70% of open job postings ended in a hire (rather than it being closed because the role was eliminated, there weren’t enough quality candidates, or other factors).
For current job seekers, Moulton advises keeping your skills sharp, networking and understanding that job openings are still in flux in the pandemic recovery: “Labor markets go up and down. If you can maintain a positive attitude and stay resilient, eventually you’ll see some success.”
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