Linux Professionals In High Demand: Report

The Linux Foundation and Dice have released a report titled 'Linux Jobs Report' which shows the increasing demand for Linux talent across industries. The report includes responses from more than 2,000 hiring managers at corporations, Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), government organizations, and staffing agencies from across the globe.

Hiring a Linux expert is priority
The survey found that the demand for Linux talent is on the rise. Around 81% respondents said that hiring Linux talent is a priority in 2012. The survey found that 63% of hiring managers are increasing Linux related jobs as compared to other skill areas. However, they also point out that its very hard to find Linux professionals. A full 85% respondents said that finding Linux talent is somewhat to very difficult, making Linux professionals some of the most sought talent in 2012."

What it means is its about time for college students to start looking at Linux as their career. The scalability of Linux and its deep penetration across industries -- from NASA to Supercomputers, from stock exchanges to predator drones, from Wall-mart to Amazon -- is demanding a lot of Linux developers and system admins.

"Google, Facebook, Amazon, Qualcomm, IBM, Intel and hundreds of other companies who rely on Linux to support their businesses, especially their highly-valued data centers and embedded systems, are paying big bucks to find and retain Linux talent," says Jim Zemlin, the executive director of the Linux Foundation.

Linux professionals get better salaries
Linux professionals are not the ones who sit in their mom's basements and write codes. According to the survey, Linux professionals garner more full-time positions and better salaries, bonuses and perks. While the pay increase for tech professionals averaged just two percent in 2011, Linux professionals have seen a five percent increase in salaries year-over-year and a 15 percent jump in bonus payouts. Flexible work schedules (37%) additional training and certification programs (30%) and salary increases above the company norm (28%) are among the perks Linux gurus can expect.

High demand for mid-level Linux developers, sys admins
The survey also found there mid-level Linux developers and system administrators are the most in-demand. Employers are seeking mostly Linux developers – 67 percent - and systems administrators – 55 percent - with varying levels of experience; though, mid-level professionals appear to be the most highly sought: 75 percent of respondents say they’re looking for Linux talent with three to five years of experience.

Bad economy
Even as overall unemployment rates remain high worldwide, the tech job market continues to thrive — and the demand for Linux talent, in particular, is booming. Eight in 10 (81%) survey respondents say that hiring Linux talent is a priority in 2012. This urgency is driving a substantial uptick in recruiting activity, with nearly half (47%) of hiring managers expecting to add more Linux professionals to their firms in the first six months of 2012 than they did in the previous six months.

One of the few reasons why this demand for Linux experts is increasing is the fact that these companies are growing, creating need for additional Linux-focused team members. Another reason being that Linux is becoming core of many businesses thus they need in-house support and engagement with the Linux community.