Linux Growth Results in High Demand for Linux Talent for Fourth Year in a Row

Dice and The Linux Foundation today are releasing their annual Linux Jobs Report, which details the responses of more than 1,000 hiring managers and 3,000 Linux professionals about the state of the Linux job market. 

Highlights include:

● Nearly all hiring managers are looking to recruit Linux professionals in the next six months. With new Linux-based systems, projects and products constantly emerging, hiring the right talent to support all the growth continues to be a priority amongst employers. Nine out of 10 hiring managers report they will bring on Linux talent relative to other skills areas in the next six months.

● The rise of open cloud platforms is creating even more demand for Linux professionals with the right expertise. Forty-two percent of hiring managers say that experience in OpenStack and CloudStack will have a major impact on their hiring decisions, while 23 percent report security is a sought-after area of expertise and 19 percent are looking for Linux talent with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) skills.

● Linux-certified professionals will be especially well positioned in the job market this year, with 44 percent of hiring managers saying they’re more likely to hire a candidate with Linux certification, and 54 percent expecting either certification or formal training of their SysAdmin candidates.

We started this research four years ago when our members started telling us they couldn’t find enough qualified Linux talent to support their aggressive deployment plans. We talked to Dice and they, too, were hearing from hiring managers that they couldn’t find enough Linux pro’s to fill their open positions. 

Today we’re seeing more developers and SysAdmins learning Linux. Just last year, more than 300,00 students registered for our Intro to Linux course on the edX platform. And many professionals who have traditionally supported other OSes are looking to learn Linux to expand their career opportunities. But Linux continues on its major growth trajectory, as companies are getting even more aggressive about rolling out Linux-based systems and devices so support cloud, mobile and embedded, and emerging areas such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN). As such, we must continue to grow the global talent pool of Linux professionals to keep up with this growth. There are a variety of Linux training and certification programs available so that professionals can acquire the right expertise and to be able to demonstrate that knowledge to Linux skills-hungry employers. And, if you’re just getting started, consider contributing to an open source project. Community leaders agree this is a great way to become familiar with Linux and open source and to start building your reputation. 

For more data and analysis on the Linux jobs market, please download the report today.