'BMW motorcycle as a sign-on bonus': These engineers are in extremely high demand in India

The tech industry in India has long relied on a large and affordable workforce to provide outsourced services to some of the most prominent Western IT companies. However, this labour supply is dwindling in critical areas, particularly in the fields of AI and data science.

According to Nasscom, while over five million people work in tech services in India, there are only about 4,16,000 people employed in AI and data science in the country. The demand for these specialists is only set to grow, with companies establishing R&D hubs in Bangalore and other cities to develop critical technologies such as AI and deep learning.

According to a report by Bloomberg, some IT companies in India are going to the extent of offering new BMW Motorcycles as a sign-on bonus. The report suggests that data scientist specialists in Delhi are witnessing pay hikes of 35 per cent to 50 per cent every time they switch jobs. In India, there is a high demand for data scientists, machine-learning specialists, and skilled engineers. 

In order to make the most of the highly skilled population of India, some US-based companies such Flexcar, a car subscription startup, are building teams in Bengaluru for better access to talent. The company is looking for data engineers and computer-vision specialists for their data science hub in the city.

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Flexcar's team of 60 engineers helps build AI applications, but they need more talent to keep up with the rising demand. The startup is trying to use ChatGPT to build a chatbot that will be able to help technicians diagnose and fix vehicles by querying chatbots.

According to the report, Freedom Dumlao, the chief technology officer of Flexcar, interviewed an engineer who claimed to already have an offer. The competitor offered him a BMW motorcycle as a sign-on bonus, which Dumlao didn't want to match.

The report cites Rahul Shah, co-founder of WalkWater Talent Advisors who claims that there is an "insatiable need for talent." Nasscom estimates that India needs another 2,13,000 data specialists, while there are only about 4,16,000 people working in AI and data science in the country.

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Experts claim that the talent crunch in India will only worsen in the next year or two, making it increasingly difficult for companies to find the specialists they need to build and develop their AI applications. India is ahead of most countries in terms of the IT talent pool. Now, India has a chance to take on behemoths like US and China to build to become the biggest IT hub in the world.