By: Patrick Burke
Patrick Burke is a writer and editor based in the greater New York area and occasionally blogs for Rackspace Hosting.
Cloud computing is being embraced by companies both large and small, and those potential employees with skill sets that include cloud know-how are, accordingly, growing in demand, a study released by CompTIA, the IT vendor industry association, reveals.
The increased use of cloud computing by small, fledgling businesses and established enterprises means changes in job descriptions, and a need for vendors and enterprises to reconsider the type of working relationships they have, according to the CompTIA study of 500 IT and business professionals.
More than three out of five companies report they are adding new types of skill sets to their IT departments to keep up with growing cloud requirements. Skills now in demand include private cloud developers and administrators, departmental liaisons, integration specialists, cloud architects, and compliance specialists, the report states. Expertise in these areas is also being sought from IT vendors and consultants, the CompTIA study finds.
Computer and IT professionals with training or experience in cloud computing are in-demand across the United States. The metropolitan areas with the highest volume of listings in August were San Jose, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington (DC) and New York. Silicon Valley leads the US in the volume of job ads with a total of 2,000 available during the month of August. However, the New York area has seen the greatest growth in demand over the past year. The number of job ads during August was up 230 percent compared to the same month last year.
As more employers shift data and software to cloud-based applications, hiring demand is likely to continue. Currently, the limited talent supply of potential candidates with cloud computing experience will create challenges for employers, according to an article on Equities.com.
Employers across the United States spend an average of 6.5 weeks advertising jobs and sourcing candidates for IT positions that require cloud computing. However, each location and region of the US will experience a varying degree of difficulty when recruiting. Companies in San Francisco and Baltimore are currently experiencing some of the most challenging overall recruiting conditions. Competition has emerged as more employers are looking to fill jobs in these areas than the local talent supply can support. Job ads in this area remain online for an average of 7.5 weeks.
According to the CompTIA study, IT managers are taking action to build these new cloud skills. Two-thirds of companies in the survey who reported undergoing an IT department restructuring also reported that their IT staff had taken training to build new skills.
“This training may often be initiated by the employees,” the study states.