According to recent research by The Linux Foundation, 1,672 open-source professionals were surveyed, as well as 559 respondents with responsibility for hiring open-source professionals. The results revealed a high correlation between the demand for that experience and familiarity with DevOps.
Regarding the most sought-after skills, 69% of employers said they are looking for IT professionals with cloud and container technology experience, followed by Linux (61%) and DevOps/GitOps/DevSecOps experience (57%). Another 40% look for people with cybersecurity skills.
More than three-quarters of IT professionals (76%) surveyed currently work with Linux (76%), 60% have worked with cloud/container technologies, and 53% have experience with DevOps/GitOps/DevSecOps. More than three-quarters (79%) said it was very important (44%) or extremely important (35%) to be familiar with DevOps.
On an equal footing in terms of pay and benefits, more IT professionals prefer to work for organizations that are seen as leaders in open-source software. As a result, organizations that want to recruit the best talent must be seen as significant contributors to open-source software projects to attract the best IT talent.
About half of the respondents currently work for IT vendors, but the rest represented some end-user organization that typically consumes open-source software. This distribution shows that the demand for open-source software expertise has gone beyond IT vendors creating commercial applications and IT platforms, he said.
Overall, the survey found that 93% of employers struggle to find enough qualified talent, and nearly half of respondents (46%) plan to hire more IT professionals with open-source software experience in the next six months. In addition, 86% said hiring IT professionals with expertise in open-source software was a priority. In addition, more than two-thirds of employers (69%) said they are more likely to hire an open-source professional with a certification. In addition, 90% of employers said they would pay employees to obtain certificates, and 58% reported that open-source IT professionals typically have higher salaries.
A total of 81% of open-source software professionals surveyed also said they planned to add certifications this year. Almost three-quarters of them (73%) also pointed out that it would be easy for them to find a new job. About a third of those surveyed quit or changed jobs in the last year, the survey found. Two-thirds of open-source software professionals said higher pay would deter them from leaving a job.
More than three-quarters of IT professionals (77%) also said they would benefit from additional cybersecurity training.
However, only 43% of employers identified training as a means of closing their current skills gaps. Another 41% said they had hired consultants to fill these gaps. Only 16% of respondents said they were willing to delay projects due to a lack of expertise.
IT providers and enterprise IT organizations compete, in many ways, for the same talent. The challenge facing business organizations is to ensure they have a high enough profile to be perceived as a place where IT professionals can make a significant contribution to open-source software.
