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Cloud skills gap- With a dearth of qualified candidates for cloud-related positions, enterprises are often better served looking within to fill those roles.
A cloud skills gap is nothing new. Startups and other early adopters have faced an uphill hiring battle for years, because many IT pros lack the skills and experience needed to build and manage cloud-based applications. The shortage has been exacerbated by traditional enterprises’ increased adoption of the cloud. In fact, a search of “cloud computing” jobs on popular career sites can turn up thousands of openings.
These enterprises’ challenges are compounded by the fact that they can’t offer the most exciting roles or the highest pay — as compared to Silicon Valley software companies or the cloud providers themselves — making it harder to attract and retain staff. But rather than give up, organizations should instead take a DIY approach to retrain existing staff, with an emphasis on culture and transparency, according to a recent Forrester Research report.
The hiring challenge, explained
The workforce shift to increase cloud expertise has been a slow process, according to Tracy Woo, Forrester analyst and lead author of the report. Top colleges and universities have added cloud-related courses, but they’re not adding cloud degrees at a pace needed to keep up with demand.
This isn’t unique to cloud. AI, machine learning and robotics are other fields struggling to hire talent that didn’t grow up knowing these types of jobs would even exist, Woo said. But what separates cloud roles from those other fields is the relatively mundane nature of the job.
“If you look outside Silicon Valley, those are not necessarily sexy jobs,” Woo said. “You don’t go into [tech] to be an IT admin. You go into it to work in computer gaming or some exciting firmware.”
