Thinking of a career change? If you're technologically inclined,you might want to consider the position of data protection officer,especially if you're looking for a quick boost in pay.

Data protection officer (DPO) is a relatively new career option,and Reuters reports that when people first started training to become DPOs,there really wasn't all that much demand for people qualified tomanage the legal and ethical issues related to handlingcustomer data.

But all that's changed, thanks in large part to a European law that has businesses the world oversuddenly scrambling to find people who can fill the role. TheEuropean Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which goesinto effect in May, requires that all companies whose coreactivities include substantial monitoring or processing of personaldata hire a DPO. The goal is to provide European citizens morecontrol over their online information, and the law applies to allfirms that do business with Europeans.

Related: 3 ways HR and benefits managers canmitigate cybersecurity risks

An estimate from the International Association of PrivacyProfessionals puts the growing need at truly amazing levels, withmore than 28,000 DPOs needed in Europe and the U.S. and as many as75,000 globally—all as a result of GDPR—with data-rich industries,such as tech, digital marketing, finance, healthcare and retail atthe forefront of recruiting. In fact, Uber, Twitter, Airbnb,Cloudflare and Experian, according to the report, are alreadyadvertising online for DPOs; so are Microsoft, Facebook,Salesforce.com and Slack.

“I would say that I get between eight and 10 calls a week abouta role [from recruiters],” Marc French, DPO of Massachusetts e-mailmanagement company Mimecast, is quoted saying in the report. Headds, “Come January 1 the phone calls increased exponentiallybecause everybody realized, 'Oh my god, GDPR is only five monthsaway.'”

DPOs are required by GDPR to assist their companies on dataaudits for compliance with privacy laws, as well as to trainemployees on data privacy and serve as the point of contact forEuropean regulators. The law also obligates companies to makepersonal information available to customers on request, or deleteit entirely in some cases, and report any data breaches within 72hours.

The demand for DPOs has not only boosted interest in dataprivacy training, according to Sam Pfeifle, content director of theIAPP, which introduced a GDPR Ready program last year for aspiringDPOs, but has caused a rush on training for would-be candidates forthe position. In the report, Pfeifle is quoted saying, “We alreadysold out all of our GDPR training through the first six months of2018.” He adds that the IAPP saw a surge in new memberships in2017, from 24,000 to 36,000.

And poaching is common, and likely to become more so, ascompanies in desperate need of a DPO try to lure one away from anexisting job—many of which are in Germany. Berlin ad-targetingstartup Simplaex's CEO, Jeffry van Ede, is quoted saying, “Everyoneis looking for a DPO. I need to have some cash ready for whensomeone tries to take mine so I can keep him.”