. >> reporter: a painter since childhood, 29-year-old mariah walton said her art makes her good at her job. >> i have a mental image of everything in my brain, and i feel like i've actually been a really good strength in joining them. >> reporter: always an artist, once a meteorologist, walton is now a data scientist at the networking site linked's in. her job is to sift through the files generated by clicks on linkedin's website. it's helping the firm serve its clients and advertisers better. but it's not just like big data, all industries do it these days. putting a premium on workers like walton. >> data field is actually very sexy, and it's a hot demand. it's super hard to find right talent and the right people. >> reporter: that demand leading the consulting firm mckenzie to a find a shortage. >> we saw the potential gap of 140 to 190,000 positions in the united states alone. >> reporter: linkedin's head of data recruiting will hire over 100 data scientists this year. a 50% increase from 2014. she says competition for talent often leads to bidding wars for workers who depending on