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- Companies like Amazon and Meta are hoping to snag generative AI talent with six-figure salaries.
- The race to hire comes as companies seek to cash in on the hype around the technology.
- Without enough AI experts to fill demand, salaries are getting increasingly competitive.
As companies race to keep up with the hype around generative, employers are looking to hire workers with deep knowledge of the technology.
Since the beginning of this year, the number of listings related to generative AI on the job site Indeed quadrupled, according to data from Indeed obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
Without a big enough supply of experienced AI professionals to fill the demand for these roles, US companies are offering competitive six-figure salaries in attempts to woo skilled workers, recruiters told the Journal.
"This is pure market economics," Paul J. Groce, a partner at executive recruitment firm Leathwaite, told the Journal. "We do not magically have thousands of additional AI developers, product managers and everything else."
Last month, Netflix made headlines for offering up to $900,000 for an AI-focused product manager role amid the actors' and writers' strikes.
Dating app Hinge is hiring a VP of artificial intelligence who could earn up to $398,000 a year to lead the app's AI strategy, and Amazon posted a job listing for a senior manager in applied science and generative AI who could land a salary as high as $340,300.
It's not just tech companies getting in on the AI hype. Capital One posted a listing for a distinguished engineer of generative AI, offering a salary of up to $325,700, while Walmart is seeking a senior manager for its conversational AI platform who could earn between $168,000 and $252,000 a year.
"As advancements take shape, we're creating new jobs and opportunities for associates to learn new skills," a Walmart spokesperson said.
Early-to-mid career workers familiar with AI can also cash in — in some cases with nothing more than a college degree.
Meta, for instance, posted a job listing for a generative AI research engineer with an annual salary as high as $137,000. The company is seeking recent college grads for the role. And chip giant Nvidia posted an entry-level job opening for a generative AI research scientist. The position has a salary between $156,000 and $247,250.
Amazon, Capital One, Meta, and Nvidia did not respond to Insider's requests for comment when asked for specifics about their AI-focused roles.
The growth of generative AI-roles comes as companies warm up to the idea that understanding generative AI tools like ChatGPT may, in fact, be a skill that can improve products and boost productivity.
In June, Crossover, a search engine for remote jobs, closed applications for a senior director role and a chief product officer role. Both listings offered $800,000 salaries and required that applicants apply ChatGPT to their work.
"As this tech is still so new, there is a race to bring on employees with this skill in order for the company to stay cutting edge," Stacie Haller, the chief career advisor at job site Resume Builder, told Insider. "And it looks like companies are willing to pay to do so."