With cloud computing becoming the platform that enterprises are turning to for their applications and data, it should come as no surprise that cloud positions are in extremely high demand. But what may be surprising are the top 10 positions that employers are looking for when staffing up for their move to the cloud.
In a study of online job ads that were posted between Feb. 15 and March 15, the term "cloud" appeared in 460,000 posted ads -- making cloud knowledge No. 3 among the most in-demand IT skills, according to data collected by CEB TalentNeuron, the employee recruiting unit of consulting firm CEB.
But employers are not advertising for specific cloud skills per se, but rather a broader area of skills such as security, foundry, gaming, virtualization, and others, in which the word "cloud" is referenced somewhere in the job posting, the study found. As a result, the top 10 cloud positions in demand may surprise you.
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"Cloud computing has seen broad adoption, and has moved from an emerging technology to a mainstream technology -- and these initiatives are increasing," said John Reed, senior executive director of recruiting firm Robert Half Technology, in a previous interview with InformationWeek. As a result, skilled professionals with any cloud experience are in high demand, which in turn can make it difficult to find enough cloud workers to fulfill a company's needs.
Companies are placing a premium on technology professionals with a track record of cloud computing who have first-hand experience, Reed said.
In ranking IT jobs that are most in demand, CEB looked at those that were the most difficult to fill. The degree of difficulty was based on the supply of available job candidates, demand by employers for people in a position, the location of the job, the skill, unemployment rates, job site sources, and salary levels offered.
It turns out that cloud jobs were also No. 3 in being the most difficult IT position to fill, behind those handling JavaScript and quality assurance, the study found. On a scale of 1 to 99, with 99 being the most difficult position to fill, cloud jobs came out with a score of 81 on the CEB TalentNeuron hiring scale.
"As new talent trained in cloud related systems and languages enters the workforce, the challenge with unbalanced supply and demand will begin to even out. Businesses will shift away from having to adapt and retrain talent to being able to meet rising adoption," Meredith Amdur, talent analytics leader at CEB, told InformationWeek in an interview.
Here is CEB's list of the top 10 cloud positions in highest demand, based on available jobs, degree of difficulty in filling the position, and median advertised salary. Each occupation also outlines how these professions are using the cloud.
Take a look and let us know what you think. Does this list inspire you to explore a career change? If you're a hiring manager, has your company experienced problems recruiting talent in these positions?
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