Benchmarks dispel the notion that utilities are “behind” other industries generally, when it comes to advanced analytics job trends for utilities vs. U.S. industries as a whole.
Let’s unpack some of the BLS, BEA, Salesforce, and LinkedIn data utilized in Part I of our study. How were the advanced analytics-related job titles distributed across sub-segments of importance? For the Salesforce data, we found 301 advanced analytics jobs based on a keyword search across job titles, with the corresponding search results overall for all industries providing 22,101 such jobs.
| Total | Analytics related | Analytics related % | ||
| US–All companies | 16,316,507 | 22,101 | 0.14% | |
| US–Utilities | 120,256 | 301 | 0.25% |
Representative titles were similar for utilities vs. all industries, although the latter did show a greater prevalence/emphasis regarding risk management, data governance, big data and cloud related titles:
| Representative top titles for utilities | Representative top titles for all industries |
| Information Technology Architect | Director, Risk Management |
| Enterprise Architect | Enterprise Architect |
| Director, Enterprise Risk Management | Manager, Big Data and Cloud Analytics |
| Principal Enterprise Architect | Director and Principal Data Scientist |
| Principal Information Technology Architect | Business Intelligence Enterprise Architect |
| Senior Data Scientist | Enterprise Architect Big Data and Analytics |
| Data Scientist | Business Intelligence Director |
| Senior Database Developer | Information Technology Architect/Business Intelligence |
| Database and Middleware Engineer | Data Scientist — Big Data Analytics |
| Business, Technical, and Requirements Analyst | Enterprise Data Architecture and Identity Access Management |
| Enterprise Architect, Strategy and Standards Expert | Enterprise Risk Management – Data Warehouse, Reporting, Analytics |
| Enterprise Information Technology Architect | Enterprise Information Risk and Program Governance |
Utilities seem a little bit more “IT heavy” than other industries generally, per the first two rows of the table below but aside from that, the proportion of job titles in different departments tracks very closely between the 301 utility titles and the 20,000 similar titles across all industries:
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| A significant difference is that utilities do not seem to have elevated their advanced analytics personnel to as high of a position in their organizations with 58% of such roles remaining at a “staff” level for utilities versus 33% generally across other industries, with the latter clearly showing a much higher portion of such roles at a VP level:
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| Industry | Percent of all advanced analytics jobs |
| Financial Services | 14% |
| Healthcare, Pharmaceutical | 13% |
| Business Services | 11% |
| Education | 10% |
| Software & Internet | 9% |
| Manufacturing | 8% |
| Computers & Electronics | 7% |
| Government | 5% |
| Retail | 3% |
| Wholesale & Distribution | 3% |
| Media & Entertainment | 3% |
| Telecommunications | 3% |
| Energy & Utilities | 3% |
| Non-Profit | 2% |
| Travel, Recreation, | 2% |
| Consumer Services | 1% |
| Real Estate & Construction | 1% |
| Transportation | 1% |
| Other | 0% |
| Agriculture & Mining | 0% |
| 100% |
While we can attribute some of the higher portion of VP-level advanced analytics jobs overall, to the tendency of the Financial industry to hand out a lot more VP level positions than other industries, their influence is not likely to be responsible for the bulk of the above finding, since Healthcare/Pharma and Business Services industries are a close second and third overall, and don’t have a reputation for being artificially “VP-heavy” in their job title practices:
When it comes to these advanced analytics jobs, which industries pay the most and which employ the most? The answers vary depending on specific roles, but the BLS provides such data in detail. For example, the Insurance industry pays the highest salaries and is the largest employer for Operations Research Analysts, while for Logisticians, the Aerospace industry is both the largest employer and the provider of the highest salaries. (The BLS defines Logisticians as those who “Analyze and coordinate the logistical functions of a firm or organization. Responsible for the entire life cycle of a product, including acquisition, distribution, internal allocation, delivery, and final disposal of resources.”)
In terms of regional results, we can also utilize the BLS mapping utility to look at wages and employment levels by state, for specific jobs. For example, the next two charts respectively show the salary and employment levels across all industries, for Management Analysts, and the subsequent two charts provide the same information for Operations Research Analysts.
While one may easily think wages will run the same for other positions, as a function of cost of living variations between states, there are exceptions, given supply and demand considerations. For example the chart below, for Computer and Information System Managers, varies significantly in some states (e.g. with respect to salary levels in Texas and Pennsylvania) in comparison to the last chart’s salary results.
A sample of the full level of detail available for a single job title from the BLS is provided for Operations Research Analysts in the Appendix. Similar summaries for all 250 BLS job titles are available at this link: Data tables for OES are charts, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Appendix—BLS Data Sample
Operations Research Analysts
Formulate and apply mathematical modeling and other optimizing methods to develop and interpret information that assists management with decision making, policy formulation, or other managerial functions. May collect and analyze data and develop decision support software, service, or products. May develop and supply optimal time, cost, or logistics networks for program evaluation, review, or implementation.
National estimates for this occupation: Top
Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:
| Employment (1) | Employment RSE (3) |
Mean hourly wage |
Mean annual wage (2) |
Wage RSE (3) |
| 109,150 | 2.4 % | $40.55 | $84,340 | 0.7 % |
Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:
| Percentile | 10% | 25% | 50% (Median) |
75% | 90% |
| Hourly Wage | $20.87 | $27.60 | $38.08 | $50.68 | $63.78 |
| Annual Wage (2) | $43,400 | $57,400 | $79,200 | $105,410 | $132,660 |
Industry profile for this occupation: Top
Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.
Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:
| Industry | Employment (1) | Percent of industry employment | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage (2) |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 11,020 | 0.48 | $41.79 | $86,910 |
| Insurance Carriers | 10,460 | 0.89 | $39.37 | $81,890 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | 9,960 | 0.75 | $41.39 | $86,100 |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | 8,910 | 0.45 | $42.03 | $87,410 |
| Depository Credit Intermediation | 5,660 | 0.34 | $38.13 | $79,310 |
Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:
| Industry | Employment (1) | Percent of industry employment | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage (2) |
| Insurance Carriers | 10,460 | 0.89 | $39.37 | $81,890 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | 9,960 | 0.75 | $41.39 | $86,100 |
| Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services | 1,940 | 0.65 | $39.99 | $83,180 |
| Nondepository Credit Intermediation | 3,750 | 0.63 | $40.20 | $83,610 |
| Other Financial Investment Activities | 2,850 | 0.62 | $46.60 | $96,940 |
Top paying industries for this occupation:
| Industry | Employment (1) | Percent of industry employment | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage (2) |
| Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation) | 4,950 | 0.24 | $53.66 | $111,600 |
| Basic Chemical Manufacturing | 80 | 0.05 | $51.46 | $107,040 |
| Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing | (8) | (8) | $49.99 | $103,980 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | 2,410 | 0.36 | $49.47 | $102,900 |
| Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing | 80 | 0.08 | $49.46 | $102,870 |
