It is somewhat surprising the EA job market is so competitive. The community is not terribly large. Here is an estimate...This suggests to me a very large fraction of highly engaged EAs are interested in direct work.
We have data from our careers post which addresses this. 688 (36.6% of respondents to that question) indicated that they wanted to pursue a career in an EA non-profit. That said, this was a multi-select question so people could select this alongside other options. Also 353 people reported having applied to an EA org for a job. There were 207 people who indicated they currently work at an EA org which, if speculatively we take that as a rough proxy for current positions, suggests a large mismatch between people seeking positions and total positions.
Of those who included EA org work within their career paths and were not already employed in an EA org, 29% identified as “highly engaged” (defined with examples such as having worked in an EA org or leading a local group). A further 32% identified with the next highest level of engagement, which includes things like “attending an EA Global conference, applying for career coaching, or organizing an EA meetup.” Those who reported applying for an EA org job were yet more highly engaged: 37.5% “highly engaged” and 36.4% the next highest level of engagement.
We have data from our careers post which addresses this. 688 (36.6% of respondents to that question) indicated that they wanted to pursue a career in an EA non-profit. That said, this was a multi-select question so people could select this alongside other options. Also 353 people reported having applied to an EA org for a job. There were 207 people who indicated they currently work at an EA org which, if speculatively we take that as a rough proxy for current positions, suggests a large mismatch between people seeking positions and total positions.
Of those who included EA org work within their career paths and were not already employed in an EA org, 29% identified as “highly engaged” (defined with examples such as having worked in an EA org or leading a local group). A further 32% identified with the next highest level of engagement, which includes things like “attending an EA Global conference, applying for career coaching, or organizing an EA meetup.” Those who reported applying for an EA org job were yet more highly engaged: 37.5% “highly engaged” and 36.4% the next highest level of engagement.