Cloud-Based Adoption Increasing and Hiring Demand Continues

Over the past 2 years, companies have invested heavily in cloud-based applications, due to cost savings in the current economy and overall process improvement. In a recent survey about cloud computing by Forbes and KPMG, 81% of the responding organizations said they have already moved business activities to the cloud and expect to continue with this trend in 2012.

Hiring demand has reflected this trend, with a consistent rise in online job ads since 2010 and more than 2,600 job postings over the past 30 days. Although this is slightly down from the 4-year high in May, demand in over this period has increased 32% when compared to the same time period in 2010 and 312% versus 2009. With many organizations planning to continue moving to the cloud next year – some reporting plans to move as much as one-fifth of their IT budget – it is likely that hiring will also continue into 2012.

Hiring Demand for Cloud-Computing Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

IT and Marketing professionals are most commonly required to have these skills. We looked at average salary ranges for these 2 occupations, both with cloud computing skills and the occupation average, in the cities with the highest demand. Although professionals with cloud skills don't necessarily earn higher salaries than the occupation average, the salary ranges for cloud skills fall on the higher end of the range. For both occupations, the average salary ranges in San Francisco and San Jose are the highest.

Average Salary Ranges for IT Professionals vs. Cloud Computing Skills

	Average Salary Range - with Cloud Skills	Average Salary Range - All IT Occupations
Nationally	$91,800 – $106,000	$32,900 – $127,050
Washington, DC	$100,000 – $115,000	$39,150 – $136,750
Seattle	$93,600 – $100,000	$45,750 – $110,000
New York	$101,050 – $120,000	$52,000 – $138,800
San Francisco	$110,000 – $124,800	$52,000 – $140,000
San Jose	$110,000 – $120,000	$49,900 – $130,000

Average Salary Ranges for Marketing Professionals vs. Cloud Computing Skills

	Average Salary Range - with Cloud Skills	Average Salary Range - All Marketing Occupations
Nationally	$91,800 – $106,000	$90,000 – $105,000
Washington, DC	$100,000 – $115,000	$95,000 – $110,000
Seattle	$93,600 – $100,000	$95,000 – $105,000
New York	$101,050 – $120,000	$100,000 – $120,000
San Francisco	$110,000 – $124,800	$100,000 – $125,000
San Jose	$110,000 – $120,000	$110,000 – $130,000

The last time we reported on cloud computing skills, the talent pool consisted of 10 potential candidates. From the above hiring demand graph, you can see that demand has decreased slightly, whereas the talent pool has stayed relatively even. Now, there are about 14 candidates in the US with cloud skills per job opening. Of the above 5 locations, our Hiring Scale™ shows that Recruiters in Washington, DC are likely to experience the most difficult conditions with 10 potential candidates per advertised job. Recruiters here are likely to spend more time and resources filling open positions.

Locations with the easiest recruiting conditions in the US for cloud computing skills are Tulsa (OK), Kansas City (MO), Cleveland (OH), Worcester (MA), and Manchester (NH), where they average 33 potential candidates per job opening.