Posted on 02/20/2014 6:51:06 AM PST by ShadowAce
The Linux Foundation and tech recruitment firm Dice pair up each year to produce the Linux Jobs Report, where around 1,000 corporate hiring managers and 4,000 Linux professionals are surveyed to learn what's been going on in the Linux job market.
The 2014 edition of the report makes clear that Linux is not only an in-demand job skill for IT, but one that commands better pay and more job perks than other jobs in the same field.
The first and most striking claim in the report is how the search for Linux talent has intensified, with both recruiters and Linux pros reporting major activity on that front. Of hiring managers polled, 77 percent have "hiring Linux talent" on their to-do lists for the year (up from 73 percent last year), and more than 90 percent of all hiring managers plan on hiring Linux talent of some kind in the next six months.
The report also emphasized how tough it was to find suitable Linux talent; again, 90 percent of the managers polled mentioned it was either "somewhat difficult" or "very difficult" to find experienced Linux talent. Likewise, 75 percent of the Linux professionals polled claimed they'd been contacted by a recruiter in the past six months, and more than half had been contacted six or more times.
Just saying "Linux expertise" doesn't describe what exact skill sets are in demand, but the report goes into some detail. The most in-demand Linux skills included sys admins, Linux application development, and system engineering.
Some additional detail here might have helped, since "Linux application development" could cover any number of things. Sarah Conway, PR manager for the Linux Foundation, explained the definition of the category this way: "We didn't ask [the respondents] to clarify the types of Linux applications, but we can assume this is largely focused on enterprise apps to support servers and data centers."
To top it all off, the report claims Linux pros can command top salaries and work perks (such as telecommute options and paid training). Around one-third of the employers polled said they are willing to offer such incentives to attract talent, and around 20 percent of the Linux pros polled say they were offered such perks by a prospective employer.
There's little question that folks with IT jobs are enjoying lower rates of unemployment and better salaries than their non-IT counterparts. But not all IT jobs are created equal, and the goalposts move from year to year. Mobile, Web development, and QA testing, for instance, are big draws right now.
Linux, though, counts as its own domain and may map into other domains as well. It's not hard to see how Linux skills are needed for industrial-strength Web development jobs, for instance. But there's little question that demand for pure Linux skills -- the foundational "heavy lifting" of IT -- will remain strong, especially with the growth of related markets like cloud computing.
I was one of the early RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer (IIRC)) around 15 years ago.
I let the certification expire - I couldn’t find anyone to hire me to do that, even working at a consulting firm at the time.
If the situation has changed that radically, I guess it might be worth dusting the corners of my brain.
A lot of companies are opting for CentOS. They keep a few mission critical’s on RHEL but by and large CentOS is re-shaping the landscape.
The nice thing about CentOS, though, is that the RHCE knowledge is applicable to that platform as well.
Relative to other systems, how secure is Linux?
Security is a process--not an event or an application, or an OS. Security is a full-time process that one must use to keep the network from being breached in any way.
That being said, Linux is fairly easy to set up for the various policies required to be secure. It is even possible to lock out the administrator (root, in Linux) to the point of it being a useless account. There are enough tools for Linux to make the system and network quite secure--moreso than Windows, IMHO.
I’m seeing more and more use of linux in server rooms, but not on desktops.
Well, since I am now teaching IT courses and we pay close attention to national job trends; I must have missed this overwhelming demand for Linux gurus. A background in multiple OS is going to obviously going to be helpful as is knowledge of multiple programming languages and multiple database systems. Most job listings are ridiculously specific with regard to experience and knowledge base. If you are a networking person then certainly, a good knowledge of Linux as well as Windows Servers is essential.
Thanks.
Would aluminum foil be useful in any way to increase security in one’s computer work space?
For later
Very true. Even knowing Linux without a certification will get you an interview at many places, and or can even seal the deal if it comes down to them choosing between equally qualified people, one knowing some Linux and the other not.
I worked at a place that had a couple of wiring closets that actually looked very similar to that! Was a total nightmare to simply install or replace a switch.
Linux is playing a big role in server virtualization. We are looking a linux person to help administer our VMware infrastructure.
It has been a while but wasn’t CentOS a rather middling desktop distro at one time? I didn’t even know they did servers and stuff, probably because I’m not into that.
That is true because CENTOS is basically Red Hat with the trade mark information removed, no red-hatted Shadow Man logo and no Red Hat technical support.
Wow, you’re one of the few. Actual RHCEs in the wild are hard to find these days. We’re a HEAVY RHEL shop with Windows as our backbone. I’ve made my gravy off of Microsoft for 20 years, but I’m an advanced Linux user; and I can tell you that my knowledge of Linux was part of the reason my boss hired me. If you can bat from both sides, you’re a force to be reckoned with.
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