UPDATE: Ever so often I get a search engine click on this post, presumably from QIS job seekers. So despite the dreary title I now can give you a link to this job portal.
When promoting my last blog post in the LinkedIn “Quantum Computing and Quantum Information” group a strange thing happened. Rather than staying in the main discussions section of that group my item was moved to the jobs section. So let’s be clear about this: I don’t have jobs to offer.
My last entry at this LinkedIn group is now the only one amidst a see of white fertile untouched HTML background in the jobs section. Quite a contrast to the High Performance Computing LinkedIn groups that have dozens of jobs posted.
This made me ponder the Quantum Information Science (QIS) job market. While I expect in the not so distant future there will be plenty of high qualified jobs to be had, we are certainly living in a very different reality as of now. There is a reason that the byline to this blog is “Observations on the nascent quantum computing industry”.
With the exception of D-Wave the few other commercial players (i.e. the IBMs of the world) are still in basic research mode. Outside these companies, and a very small Quantum Key Distribution sector, there are essentially no QIS jobs in the private sector. It seems to me the job market still looks very much the same as described by Robert Tucci 1 ½ years ago.
Don’t peruse this blog because you are looking for a job in this area. But by all means please come here, and check back regularly, if you are intrinsically interested in Quantum Computing.
Update: Todd Brun was so kind to point out his QIS job site as a worthwhile destination for the wary job seeker who surfed wandered over here looking for QC related work.
Sad but true, the part about jobs.
Nice picture. I love black and white pictures about the past., especially when they have to do with quantum computing.
The photo puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? The Great Recession is bad, but this recalls that it was ever so much harder to get quantum computing jobs during the Great Depression.
Sorry to pop in like this–but on the topic, I actually maintain a website devoted to jobs in QIP:
http://QIPJobs.org/
It’s free, as a service to the community. I mainly rely on employers to send me their ads, so I don’t claim that the list of jobs on the site is comprehensive, but I do post as many as I know about. There are industry jobs on the page sometimes, but it is definitely true that most jobs (including in industry) are still pure research.
Todd, you are more than welcome to pop in anytime – especially when bringing a gift bag for those hopeful souls who end up on my blog looking for a QC job 🙂