More Data Engineers Crave FAANG Jobs

Compared to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 55% of data engineers say they are more likely to want to work for a FAANG company — tech behemoths Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google— while only 15% are less likely to feel that way, according to a new survey by Wakefield Research.

The study of 300 U.S-based data engineers was conducted on behalf of Monte Carlo, a data observability platform. Data collection for the report took place from April 28 through May 11.

Wakefield is the same research outfit behind a 2021 data engineering survey that showed data responsibilities are stressful for some people, but not as much for data engineers as for other job roles.

The 2022 report provides stats that seem to support that assessment. More than half of respondents say the number of data incidents per month has increased and that it takes more than four hours to identify when an incident occurs.

Among other findings:

• Forty-one percent of the survey participants said they spend more than four hours a day dealing with data quality issues
• Forty-seven percent also said that decision maker or stakeholder decisions are affected by data quality issues most or all of the time.

With so much riding on the success or failure of data infrastructure, the desire to work for a FAANG company could make sense.

Smaller companies may require data engineers like those surveyed, to be a jack of all trades, which can be quite stressful. Perhaps the survey respondents believe working for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, or Google will allow them to specialize and focus on their chosen career path.

If FAANG companies consistently act socially responsible and are attuned to signs of employee burnout, they won’t lose this next generation of tech talent they are recruiting.

Among other things, Monte Carlo’s platform ranks data by its importance and impact. In July, Susan Hall wrote in The New Stack about how the company’s competitor Soda checks to keep your data in line. The CEO of another of Monte Carlo’s rivals, BigEye, told our readers why data reliability engineering is important. Look for more coverage of data management topics on our site in the near future.