[avatar user=”krishna gautam” size=”thumbnail” align=”left” /] Krishna Gautam
Cloud Engineers On Cloud Nine!
Indian Cloud Skills and Talent are in for a hyperactive hiring action that promises multipliers of remuneration and exposure.
A year after the largest scale WFH and Remote operations, debates are now on the continued feasibility and wellness impact. Irrespective of the drift of decisions around WFH and Hybrid formats of working, a digitally distributed workplace is here to stay. Needless to mention the zettabytes of digital data and cyber assets created and pushed into the hybrid cloud by employees worldwide. The hardware and cybersecurity infrastructure required for enabling, monitoring and securing this distributed workplace has multiplied over the year. With this development comes an increased demand for Cloud Skills that were already on a high curve as we went into the lockdowns. Skills in Development, Infrastructure, Hardware, Data Management and Security dimensions of the Public Cloud and Private Cloud are now on every digital enterprise’s hiring plans.
While domestic growth and WFH forms a major dimension of the demand for Cloud Skills, the other prominent and equal, if not bigger, dimension is that of the growing beeline of GICs & Captive Centers. These digital back offices and GICs being set up by large MNCs find Indian talent, infrastructure, regulatory and cost factors further lucrative now. Tight digital regulations these enterprises operate under and sensitive information and data that they build and work with has added more push to Cloud Skills and Cyber Security talent.
Table of Contents
Skills under Cloud
The list of critical and thriving Cloud Skills that are popular among enterprises in a digital transformation and talent in the recruitment circles are:
- AWS ( Amazon Web Services )
- Microsoft Azure
- GCP (Google Cloud Platform)
- Oracle Cloud
- Azure Admin
- Azure DevOps
- AWS DevOps
- Cloud Architecture
- Cloud Computing
- Cloud Security
- Virtualization
- Kubernetes and Docker
- Storage & Disaster Recovery
- DevOps / SRE (Site Reliability Engineer)
- Multiple Cloud Technologies/Layers are (Infrastructure, Platform, Software)
- IAAS – Infrastructure as a Service
- PAAS – Platform as a Service
- SAAS – Software as a Service
Current Active Cloud Opportunities
A little over 15K Active Job Openings with one or more cloud skills were available across India as of end March 2021. Important to note that these openings, are truly boundary-less with openings available at major Metros and Tier 2 Cities. Majority of the hiring action seeks Cloud Skills with experience in the 4 to 12 years range. Entry-level cloud talent is yet to break ground, as enterprises are seeking more ready-to-run skills in the current context.
The Top 10 Locations for Cloud Skills opportunity are:
- Bangalore
- Hyderabad
- Gurgaon
- Chennai
- Pune
- Mumbai
- Noida
- Vadodara
- Chandigarh
- Ahmedabad
Cause for the Surge
Cloud Computing or Cloud Migration is not an easy process and there are various risks related to business downtime, improper migration processes and data vulnerability. Therefore, there has always been a huge demand for cloud professionals who have knowledge across multiple cloud platforms like Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud and other cloud service provider worth their salt. Demand for Cloud Computing, Data Centers, Data Storage, Virtual Machines & Cloud Migration was prominent even pre-COVID. The pandemic effect only amplified it further with more companies laying off software professionals while retaining cloud computing professionals. The track record of the past year has been the proof-of-concept for the Cloud powered Enterprise and the demand we observe from large and small businesses today is an outcome of the same.
Also Read: Data Engineering Skills, Courses, and Roles
Companies and Sectors hiring Cloud Skills
Almost all Product/R&D/Consulting/Services/GIC and Startups are seen hiring for Cloud Skills.
To name few of them are Google, Amazon, Citrix, VMWare, Dell, Microsoft, Walmart, Oracle, SAP, McAfee, Software AG, Rubrik, Technicolor, FireEye, Micro Focus, Autodesk, Dimension Data, IBM, TCS, Accenture, Wipro, Infosys, Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL, Mphasis, Mindtree, Cisco, AB InBev, Tesco, Eurofins, EY, KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, JPMC, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, VISA, Mastercard, etc.
Amongst the 5 IT Sectors, the highest demand is currently from the IT Services sector. The Software & IT products sector is the second largest consumer of Cloud Skills. Further down the list are the growing demands from Consulting Services, GICs & Captives and Startups, in that same order.
Of Hikes & Increments
Cloud Talent and Skills have been lately been offered with exciting packages and pay hikes from prospective and current employers alike. Perks and percentages once considered outliers are increasingly becoming common and less unusual. However the point remains that this tilting of the scales that enterprises are carrying out, is akin to setting themselves up for a future stalemate, if not a checkmate situation.
Average offer hikes observed for job changes in different sectors are as below.
| Average Offer Hike | Last Year | This Year |
| Software Services (Indian Major’s) | 8 – 12% | 30 – 40% |
| Consulting (Big 4’s / Global MNC’s) | 15 – 20% | 35 – 55% |
| Products | 18 – 23% | 40 – 60% |
| Research & Development | 20 – 25% | 50 – 70% |
| GIC’s | 15 – 20% | 35 – 55% |
| Startups | 20 – 25% | 50 – 70% |
Average increments employers are seen offering across sectors as below.
| Average Increment | Last Year | This Year |
| Software Services (Indian Major’s) | 5 – 7% | 15 – 22% |
| Consulting (Big 4’s / Global MNC’s) | 8 – 10% | 18 – 25% |
| Products | 14 – 17% | 22 – 30% |
| Research & Development | 17 – 20% | 25 – 35% |
| GIC’s | 8 – 10% | 18 – 27% |
| Startups | 20 – 25% | 25 – 45% |
