Online Cloud Job Postings Increased 92 Percent in 12 Months

Written by Brian Taylor
March 21, 2012

During the month of February 2012 more than 5,000 cloud computing jobs were advertised in the United States, according to career search intelligence firm WANTED Analytics. Hiring demand is also up substantially, a 92 percent increase compared to February 2011 and a 400 percent rise relative to February 2010, according to the firm.

WANTED Analytics noted that with cloud skills demand growing so rapidly, “the gap between hiring demand and talent supply across the United States is getting larger and causing more difficulties in sourcing candidates.”

The report is the latest to show a definite hiring trend in the cloud computing space: Earlier this month Talkin Cloud blogged about an IDC report predicting 14 million cloud jobs worldwide by 2015.

According to the WANTED report, the positions most often required to have cloud computing experience are software engineers, systems engineers, and network administrators. However, techies only account for two-thirds of February’s posted jobs: Other functions that more and more require cloud experience include marketing and sales managers, management analysts and financial analysts.

In my view, the organizational need here is most likely effective, strategic analysis of big data, which cloud computing enables for non-tech functions such as marketing and finance. This also speaks to the ever-more pervasive business use of data thanks to cloud computing.

No surprise here: The largest number of cloud jobs posted was in San Jose, Calif. – Silicon Valley – with 900. This was a 144 percent increase over the past year. Other metro areas with high demand were Seattle; Washington D.C.; New York; and San Francisco. The Bay Area also had the largest year-to-year growth at more than 150 percent.

Ah, but with growth comes the growing pains. WANTED Analytics reports that San Francisco-based recruiters are having the biggest difficulty when trying to fill cloud computing positions. Demand appears to have simply outgrown the local talent base. Bay Area companies have to compete harder to fill these jobs and have a longer “time-to-fill” period than other metro areas. In comparison, the best local markets for filling cloud positions at present are Tucson, Ariz.; Madison, Wis.; and Charlottesville, Va.

Click here to learn more about the WANTED Analytics cloud computing jobs study.