Artificial intelligence has been blamed for thousands of layoffs, but the lucky few who receive training in the hot technology could find jobs paying as much as $900,000 a year.
Netflix, the video streaming service, is advertising a job on its website for a product manager for its machine learning platform, offering a salary of between $300,000 and $900,000 per year, including base salary and bonuses.
The role will require the tech enthusiast to “define the strategic vision for the MLP.” [Machine Learning Platform]” We measure our success with this vision. Candidates can work from our Los Gatos, California office or remotely across the West Coast time zone.
The job posting does not state a college degree requirement.
The staggering figure has attracted the attention of Hollywood actors and screenwriters who are taking part in an ongoing strike calling for higher-paying contracts that will better protect entertainment industry workers from the changes brought about by streaming and emerging technology.
Earlier this month, Amazon announced a job opening for a senior manager of applied scientific and generative AI, a position that will pay up to $340,300 a year, excluding bonuses.
“The role will be focused on leading a science team focused on computer vision, latent diffusion models, and foundational models related to generative image and video products,” Amazon's job description on LinkedIn states.
Amazon has been a leader in integrating AI into its operations.
The company has been using AI-based tracking technology since 2020 to help employees maintain social distancing in its offices and warehouses during the pandemic, and it also quietly acquired Snackable.AI, a small voice-focused AI company, The Washington Post learned in May.
AI professionals are becoming increasingly in demand as intelligent machine learning software has reached a level where it can actually replace other jobs such as project management and software development.
That's why recent job ads from Netflix and Amazon boast competitive salaries that would put them in the top 1% of U.S. earners.
Walmart's director of retail media AI can earn up to $288,000 a year, according to job listings on Indeed, while Google is paying AI lawyers up to $351,000, excluding bonuses, stock, and benefits, to advise the company on the legal risks of the technology.
Goldman Sachs is also apparently hiring for several AI-related roles, including vice president of applied AI, senior AI engineer, and conversational AI data scientist, which are said to pay annual salaries of $250,000, $240,000, and $190,000, respectively.
Meanwhile, other financial firms JPMorgan Chase and Ernst & Young are offering up to $195,000 for talent experience in enterprise technology and existing AI models such as GitHub and Bitbucket that generate code.
Hinge, an online dating app, is also competing for top AI talent in a highly competitive market.
Parent company Match Group is advertising for a vice president of AI who will “provide strategic and operational leadership for Hinge's AI initiatives as we embark on our mission to become an AI-first company.”
The New York-based company said lucky candidates could fill the role from another location and earn a salary of up to $398,000 a year working remotely.
Freelance platform Upwork is also hiring a remote vice president of AI and machine learning, with a base salary of up to $437,000 per year, according to a LinkedIn job listing.
Not all businesses are equally generous in giving.
Deloitte is offering a maximum hourly rate of $28 for a full-time senior AI consultant role, which translates into an annual salary of about $58,000.
AI engineers at Procter & Gamble can expect to earn between $110,000 and $132,000 per year.
And Nike is hiring a senior machine learning engineer for a salary of up to $71 an hour, or about $148,000 a year.
Not all companies are opting to hire expensive AI experts, instead looking to train existing talent on how to run AI-related projects, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Companies are realizing that hiring alone won't get them out of this,” Vinay Menon, senior client partner and global leader of the consulting firm Korn Ferry's AI practice, told the outlet.
“AI talent is hard to come by. It's expensive. And it's also very picky,” ServiceNow CEO and Chairman Bill McDermott said.
He added: “People want to go to places where they can do work that inspires them, not just because they can be financially better off, but also because they have the final choice.”
