Network and infrastructure roles continue to evolve as enterprises implement new technologies like AI-driven network operations, multicloud networking, zero trust network access (ZTNA), and SD-WAN. We capture some of the latest industry research, hiring statistics, and certification trends that are shaping the landscape for network professionals, infrastructure and operations leaders, and data center teams. Be sure to visit regularly for the latest updates.
Recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that prior job growth estimates were inaccurately high. This past week, the agency indicated a shortfall of 818,000 jobs in the year ending March 2024 compared to earlier figures. Coupled with reports from Indeed about a rising unemployment rate, there is increasing concern about a potential recession.
Despite current trends, Indeed’s Hiring Lab states that “on a three-month average basis, the unemployment rate has increased by .55 percentage points from its low of 3.5% in January 2023.” Following the adjusted BLS data, it’s evident that the job market is less robust than previously thought, despite Indeed expressing “cautious optimism” for the U.S. labor scenario. For example, persistent job opportunities and wage increases are still likely to draw more individuals into the work force.
“Despite a decline from recent peaks, strong wage growth continues to align with pre-pandemic figures, possibly influencing more individuals to rejoin the workforce,” reports Indeed.
The semiconductor industry could be facing a major labor shortage as industry growth has outstripped the supply of skilled workers in the US. A recent analysis by McKinsey & Company indicates that both public and private investments in the semiconductor sector in the US are projected to surge to over $250 billion by 2032, resulting in more than 160,000 new engineering and technical support job openings. This increase coincides with a significant reduction in the US domestic semiconductor manufacturing workforce, which has seen a 43% decline from the highest employment levels in 2000, signaling difficulty in job fulfillment. With the current trends, the deficit of engineers and technicians might peak at approximately 146,000 by 2029, as per the study.
August 2024
New career resources from CompTIA are being launched to educate individuals about specific tech-related roles and help them customize a career path that aligns optimally with their skills and experiences.
“Too many people don’t understand what working in tech entails, thus they may feel intimidated, or believe the jobs are monotonous or overly challenging,” mentioned Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA, in a statement. “Our goal is to enlighten individuals about the exciting career opportunities in technology; to reassure them of their potential success in these roles; and to equip them with essential knowledge and skills for prosperity.”
Among the new resources is CompTIA Career Explorer, which the nonprofit organization says will help professionals tailor a career path that suits their workstyles and lifestyles. This tool allows jobseekers to experience what a day in the life of specific job roles looks like and engage in solving problems that are akin to what they would face in those roles.
CompTIA Career+ offers an interactive, video-based experience that “showcases a day in the life of in-demand job roles,” as stated by CompTIA. This feature includes about 30 job roles, which cover roughly 90% of all positions in the technology sector.
The organization unveiled these new tools at its CompTIA ChannelCon and Partner Summit conference. “We want people to connect CompTIA with having the competencies and skills needed for tech roles,” stated Thibodeaux.
August 2024
A new study by Germany-based biotechnology company Cytena reveals that California offers the highest average salaries in the U.S. for individuals in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
The research, which involved analysis of salary data from over 75 STEM roles listed on the company review site Glassdoor, found that California tops the list with an average salary of $124,937, covering various jobs from medical professionals to mathematicians and network to software engineers. Following closely is Washington state, with its average salary slightly under $124,000, while New York is third with an average salary of $114,437. Other states making it to the top ten include Nevada, Maryland, Massachusetts, Idaho, Hawaii, Colorado, and Connecticut.
July 2024
The 25th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day is set for Friday, July 26, always observed on the last Friday of July. This day, highlighted by SysAdmin Day, acknowledges the critical role of IT professionals in keeping organizational infrastructures operational. This recognition was initiated by Ted Kekatos as a tribute to those dedicated to installing and managing hardware and software, overseeing networks, aiding end-users, and monitoring system performances.
Network and systems administrators diligently handle user complaints and resolve issues, often without receiving much appreciation from their colleagues. These unrecognized heroes of IT, known as sysadmins, truly warrant a special day dedicated to them, honoring their extensive efforts and the pivotal role they play behind the scenes.
July 2024
NetBrain Technologies has launched its Network Automation Certification Program, aimed at crediting engineers who excel in network automation capabilities. This program offers network engineers a platform to validate their expertise and showcase their skill sets, as stated by NetBrain. The initial exams for this certification are scheduled for October 3, right after the NetBrain Live Conference in Boston.
Currently, NetBrain lists three network automation certifications available on their website.
July 2024
Skillsoft has collaborated with Microsoft to create the AI Skill Accelerator program. This program is designed to help organizations upgrade their employee skills to effectively utilize Microsoft AI technologies including Copilot and Azure Open AI, as well as broader generative AI technologies. The initiative aims to enhance business productivity and foster innovation through more adept use of genAI applications.
“This partnership with Microsoft marks the beginning of a series of AI-oriented learning opportunities we plan to offer. These programs are designed to equip our clients and their workforce—from everyday users to business leaders and AI developers—with the necessary skills and tools to thrive in the AI era,” announced Ron Hovsepian, executive chair at Skillsoft, in a press release. Skillsoft’s annual IT Skills and Salary report, which surveyed 5,700 tech professionals globally, found that 43% of respondents believe their teams require better AI skills.
The AI Skill Accelerator from Skillsoft offers a comprehensive learning approach, featuring on-demand courses, one-on-one and group coaching, live instructor-led training, and practical hands-on labs. Skillsoft states that this program will empower customers to:
“Microsoft and Skillsoft have a long-standing relationship and share a common goal to enable AI transformation across every area of business,” said Jeana Jorgensen, corporate vice president of worldwide learning at Microsoft, in a statement. “This learning experience is designed to empower individuals and organizations to harness the full capabilities of generative AI, Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft’s AI apps and services.”
July 2024
Data from IT employment trackers shows that the technology industry added more than 7,500 new workers in June, while at the same time the overall unemployment rate for IT pros increased.
According to CompTIA, the tech industry added some 7,540 new workers in June, which marks the biggest monthly increase so far this year. CompTIA’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data also shows that the positive growth was offset by a loss of 22,000 tech occupations throughout the U.S. economy. “Despite pockets of growth, the recent data indicates a degree of downward pressure on tech employment,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA, in a statement. “A combination of factors, including AI FOMO, likely contributes to segments of employers taking a wait and see approach with tech hiring.”
Janco Associates recently indicated an increase in the unemployment rate for IT professionals to 5.9% in June, surpassing the U.S. national rate of 4.1%. They noted that the IT job market saw an addition of 7,700 jobs in May 2024. The report detailed, “The number of unemployed IT Pros climbed from 129,000 to 147,000. A significant skills mismatch continues as many positions remain unfilled due to a lack of trained and experienced IT professionals. According to BLS data, approximately 78,000 IT professionals secured jobs, yet 147,000 are still job searching.”
July 2024
CompTIA has recently revised its Network+ certification, expanding its content to more thoroughly address the nuances of modern network environments, essentials of physical network setups, and strategies for enhancing network security and resilience.
The revised Network+ exam, also known as N10-009, encompasses topics such as software-defined networking (SDN) and SD-WAN. CompTIA emphasizes that the updated program incorporates infrastructure as code (IaC), which it describes as “a transformative method that utilizes code to enhance provisioning and management of computing infrastructure.”
The recent update to the Network+ certification now includes zero-trust architecture among other network security measures. Discover more details in the full article: CompTIA updates Network+ certification
June 2024
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced two new artificial intelligence certifications designed for IT professionals aiming to enhance their skills and increase their employability in AI-focused roles. Earning these credentials can lead to jobs that typically offer salaries up to 47% higher in the IT field, as noted in an AWS report.
AWS Certified AI Practitioner is a foundational course that confirms a practitioner’s understanding of AI, machine learning (ML), and generative AI. By completing a 120-minute test with 85 questions, candidates enhance their knowledge on critical concepts and practical applications in AI, ML, and genAI. The examination encompasses areas such as prompt engineering, responsible artificial intelligence, as well as security and compliance of AI systems.
AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer—Associate is a 170-minute test featuring 85 individual questions that examines the practical skills needed to utilize ML in a production setting effectively. This certification is ideal for individuals who have at least a year’s experience in utilizing Amazon SageMaker alongside other ML-focused AWS utilities. The examined areas include preparing data for ML endeavors, engineering features, training models, ensuring security, and more.
Registration for these new AWS certifications will start on August 13.
June 2024
The recent AI certification unveiled by Cisco at Cisco Live in Las Vegas is crafted to assist IT professionals in designing, managing, and optimizing network systems suitable for advanced AI/ML operations. This Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE)-AI Infrastructure certification, which is vendor-neutral at the expert level, empowers tech experts to create network structures tailored for AI applications. This includes addressing specific business needs tied to AI such as cost and power trade-offs and strategically aligning computing and cloud resources against carbon output as discussed by Par Merat, the vice president of Cisco Learning and Certifications, in a blog post.
According to Cisco, the newly introduced CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification covers areas like GPU optimization design and the development of high-performance generative AI network fabrics. It also focuses on the sustainability and compliance aspects of AI-supportive networks. This certification is becoming crucial as the Cisco AI Readiness Index indicates that 90% of organizations are engaging in efforts to bridge the gap in AI skills. For more details, visit Cisco debuts CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification.
June 2024
The demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to outpace the supply of skilled personnel in 2024. This shortfall is highlighted by data from CyberSeek, a project in partnership with Lightcast, NICE, and CompTIA. Current statistics reveal that only 85% of cybersecurity positions in the U.S. economy are being filled, creating a need for over 225,000 professionals to close this gap. Furthermore, job listings in all tech sectors have seen a 37% decrease from May 2023 to April 2024.
“Even as the cybersecurity job market begins to stabilize to levels seen before the pandemic, the ongoing shortage of skilled cybersecurity personnel remains,” stated Will Markow, Vice President of Applied Research at Lightcast. “Simultaneously, the emergence of new threats and technologies mandates a rapid evolution of cybersecurity skills, making it imperative for employers, educators, and professionals to stay ahead of an increasingly dynamic cyber threat landscape.”
Critical roles highly sought after include network engineers, systems administrators, cybersecurity engineers, cybersecurity analysts, security engineers, systems engineers, information systems security officers, network administrators, information security analysts, and software engineers, as reported by CyberSeek data.
“Establishing a strong cybersecurity framework often necessitates alterations in how talent is acquired,” remarked Hannah Johnson, Senior Vice President, Tech Talent Programs, CompTIA. “This can involve training less seasoned cybersecurity professionals for more senior positions, or engaging individuals who have proven their expertise through professional certifications or similar qualifications.”
June 2024
Recent employment data indicates that the median salary for IT professionals has reached $100,399, with total compensation, including bonuses and benefits, amounting to $103,692. The management consulting firm Janco Associates, Inc. has highlighted a 3.28% rise in IT salaries over the past year, despite a 5% unemployment rate among IT workers. The top executives are witnessing the largest increases, with their total compensation packages growing by 7.48%, bringing the median compensation to $184,354.
A significant phenomenon identified by Janco Associates is “salary compression,” which is seen when new employees are offered wages at the upper end of the scale for existing roles, sometimes earning more than those already in similar positions.
Midsized enterprises are experiencing higher staff turnover compared to large enterprises, and their wage increments are also more substantial, showing a 5.46% increase as opposed to 2.56% in bigger companies, reports Janco Associates.
May 2024
New research and survey results from IDC show that a growing lack of in-demand IT skills could be negatively impacting businesses’ bottom lines.
The IDC report, Enterprise Resilience: IT Skilling Strategies, 2024, reveals the most in-demand skills at enterprise organizations right now. Among the 811 respondents, artificial intelligence tops the list, cited by 45% of respondents, followed closely by IT operations (44%) and cloud solutions-architecture (36%). Other skills in demand right now include: API integration (33%), generative AI (32%), cloud solutions-data management/storage (32%), data analysis (30%), cybersecurity/data security (28%), IoT software development (28%), and IT service management (27%).
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the IT leaders at North American organizations said the lack of these skills has delayed digital transformation initiatives, most by an average of three to 10 months. Survey respondents detailed the negative impacts of lacking skills in their IT organizations:
Considering these survey results, IDC predicts that by 2026, 90% of organizations worldwide will feel the pain of the IT skills crisis, potentially costing up to $5.5 trillion in delays, quality issues, and revenue loss. “Getting the right people with the right skills into the right roles has never been so difficult,” says Gina Smith, PhD, research director for IDC’s IT Skills for Digital Business practice, said in a statement. “As IT skills shortages widen and the arrival of new technology accelerates, enterprises must find creative ways to hire, train, upskill, and reskill their employees. A culture of learning is the single best way to get there.”
May 2024
A notable concern among IT executives is the continuing skills gap which they believe hampers the adoption of new technologies, the maintenance of old systems, business growth, and client retention.
According to a recent survey by Pluralsight, a provider of online professional training, an overwhelming 96% of technologists notice an increase in workload because of the skills gap. Furthermore, 78% had to halt projects midway as they lacked IT professionals equipped with the required skills for successful completion. Although 78% of organizations reported an improvement in the skills gap compared to the previous year, critical areas such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, and software development still suffer from significant shortages. IT executives express concerns that these deficiencies could complicate operations within their organizations.
Pluralsight surveyed 1,400 executives and IT professionals from countries including the U.S., U.K., and India to gather insights on the technical skills shortage and measures taken by organizations to bridge the gaps in specific technological domains.
May 2024
Network automation continues to challenge IT leaders, with insufficient skills among personnel being a primary issue.
In a survey by Enterprise Management Associates which included 354 IT professionals, only 18% believed their network automation initiatives were entirely successful. Fifty-four percent reported partial success, while the remaining 38% were either unsure of their achievements or acknowledged their failures in network automation efforts.
Significantly, 26.8% of those surveyed identified staffing problems, such as skills shortages and high turnover rates, as a major hurdle. “The hardest part for me is the scarcity of network engineers capable of contributing to automation projects,” stated a network engineer from a mid-sized business services firm in the EMA study. “The community is small, making it difficult to find individuals who can assist in addressing issues.”
April 2024
CompTIA, an IT certification and training organization, is broadening its offerings to include new programs and products aimed at addressing the increased demand for skills related to artificial intelligence (AI).
With AI becoming integral to various existing roles, there are also entirely new positions emerging within the landscape. “Emerging roles such as prompt engineering and AI systems architects are becoming critical in alignment with the strategic AI directives of numerous companies,” noted Teresa Sears, vice president of product management at CompTIA.
According to Thomas Reilly, the chief product officer at CompTIA, millions of IT professionals will need to adapt by acquiring new AI competencies to stay relevant in the evolving job market. In his statement, he expressed the organization’s commitment to developing a comprehensive suite of certifications and training courses. These resources aim to cater to individuals at various stages of their careers, from those just starting out to seasoned professionals looking to enhance their expertise.
February 2024
The number of new IT jobs created in the calendar year 2023 exhibited minimal growth with only 700 positions added, reflecting ongoing economic concerns and an increased interest in skills pertinent to emerging technologies. This is a stark contrast to 2022, where 267,000 jobs were added, with the significant decline attributed to tech layoffs and various cost-reduction strategies.
According to Janco Associates, while there was a slight job increase of 21,300 in the fourth quarter of 2023, the total for the year barely reached 700 new positions.
“Our findings suggest that the IT labor market and career opportunities for IT professionals are quite challenging. In the last year, the telecommunications sector shed 26,400 jobs, content providers were down by 9,300 jobs, and other information services saw a reduction of 10,300 jobs,” stated M. Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco. “On the brighter side, computer system design roles increased by 32,300 and hosting providers added about 14,000 jobs.”
January 2024
According to a survey by Robert Half, the job market is expected to stay robust into 2024. They reveal that over half of the U.S. organizations surveyed anticipate an increase in their hiring activities for the first half of the year. The report, which encompasses various sectors, highlights that 57% of companies plan to create new permanent roles in the upcoming six months, 39% are looking to fill existing vacancies, and 67% aim to employ contract workers as part of their recruitment strategy.
In the technology sector specifically, 69% of the surveyed 1,850-plus hiring managers intend to introduce new permanent positions. However, challenges remain prevalent, as reported by Robert Half, with 90% of managers facing hurdles in sourcing skilled professionals and 58% noting that hiring processes are lengthier than they were the previous year.
December 2023
Cloud expertise and security knowledge are essential for crafting modern networks, and these capabilities are highly compensated, as reported by Skillsoft in their yearly evaluation of the most lucrative IT certifications. Topping the chart of the top 20 highest-paying IT certifications is the Google Cloud-Professional Cloud Architect, boasting an average annual salary of $200,960.
Alongside several cloud certifications, the list from Skillsoft also includes five certifications related to security, networking, and system architecture in the top 20.
November 2023
