Rackspace Analysis Shows Surge in Demand for AWS and Microsoft Azure Cloud Skills over the last 12 months
Number of DevOps and Docker jobs continues to rise significantly
London – 1 June, 2016 – Rackspace® (NYSE: RAX), the managed cloud company, has carried out an analysis of the IT skills most in demand in the UK technology industry, identifying that jobs relating to Amazon Web Services (AWS) have increased by a substantial 53 per cent in the last year[1]. Specifically, vacancies for AWS Engineer roles have increased by 125 per cent over the same period, quickly moving up the ranks of the most popular IT jobs.
Highlighting the need for more skills in cloud platforms such as this, the research also shows that jobs requiring Microsoft Azure experience have increased by 75 per cent in the past year, with a 5 per cent salary increase to accompany it.
This rising demand for AWS and Azure-focused skills is a clear indication of the growing value of both platforms, which organisations need experts to help them tailor off the shelf solutions and maximise the benefits of migrating to the cloud.
Docker and DevOps still high on the agenda
Another IT skillset that has attracted a surge of interest over the last 12 months is software development. The need to stay on top of new tools and their constantly changing features is part of the reason why the demand for professionals with Docker expertise has continued to increase over this period, growing by a considerable 341 per cent. This mirrors the results of Rackspace’s IT skills analysis in 2015, which found that job posts looking for those with Docker knowledge increased almost tenfold (991 per cent), jumping 317 places to number two in the list of 500 most sought after job titles in IT. As one of the fastest growing tech skills needed by businesses, the demand is set to continue.
The research also suggests that DevOps has shifted from an emerging trend to a more widely accepted business function. The number of jobs in this area rose by 57 per cent between 2014 and 2015, with a further 53 per cent increase over the last year (rising from 2,436 jobs to 3,723 jobs). This shows that companies are understanding the value of DevOps and are willing to use budget to hire staff with expertise in this area.
Darren Norfolk, Managing Director, Rackspace UK comments: “Our industry moves so fast that we can’t rely entirely on traditional forms of education from schools and universities to fill skills gaps. Therefore, technology companies have a responsibility to address these shortages by growing and fostering talent through on the job training and experience. I expect the rise in demand for cloud related jobs to continue as a growing number of businesses adopt a multi cloud strategy, using platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Openstack and AWS. The highly competitive recruitment market for skills in these areas means that managing the platforms in-house could become more costly than it has been in the past.”
Python slithers up the ranks
Some of the more general skills that are useful when working in areas like Docker and DevOps are on the rise too including Linux, Python and Puppet. Python has seen a significant rise over the last year with jobs in this area seeing a 32 per cent increase from 4,694 jobs in 2015 to 6,186 jobs in 2016, and a 10 per cent increase in the median salary for these roles.
The launch of the BBC’s Microbit earlier this year was the latest initiative to encouraging today’s younger generations to embrace these core technology skills early on in the curriculum.
About Rackspace
Rackspace (NYSE: RAX), the #1 managed cloud company, helps businesses tap the power of cloud computing without the complexity and cost of managing it on their own. Rackspace engineers deliver specialized expertise, easy-to-use tools, and Fanatical Support® for leading technologies developed by AWS, Google, Microsoft, OpenStack, VMware and others. The company serves customers in 120 countries, including two-thirds of the FORTUNE 100. Rackspace was named a leader in the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Enabled Managed Hosting, and has been honoured within the top 100 Great Places to Work for the past 11 years. Learn more at http://www.rackspace.co.uk
