Leading AWS staffing specialist Jefferson Frank today launched the latest edition of its annual report on the AWS market.
This year’s Jefferson Frank Salary Survey is the third edition to be released by the firm, a division of talent-as-a-service firm Tenth Revolution Group.
Based on over 62,000 data points, the Jefferson Frank Salary Survey is the largest AWS salary survey in the world. This year’s edition includes self-reported information from AWS professionals across the globe during the coronavirus pandemic, with respondents spanning a range of industries and a diverse range of personal and professional backgrounds.
The report gives AWS professionals and employers an overview of the latest average salaries across various AWS roles and geographical regions. It also offers readers a snapshot view of the AWS community’s sentiments and opinions, revealing their thoughts on subjects such as certifications, diversity, and earning potential.
As well as enabling them to benchmark their teams’ salaries, the report gives AWS customers, Consulting and Technology Partners an insight into what AWS professionals want from their careers. This data empowers employers to build effective hiring and retention strategies based on the AWS community’s thoughts on factors like workplace benefits, job satisfaction, certification and training, and career development.
Amid economic uncertainty and a turbulent jobs market, one of the standout findings from the survey is the value that the cloud ecosystem places on certifications and professional development.
Asked about the importance of holding official vendor certifications when it comes to finding cloud jobs, 77% of AWS professionals believe certifications help you stand out in the market.
Given this widely held belief, it’s unsurprising that a large majority of AWS professionals either already hold a certification or are working towards one. Currently, 61% of respondents cited having earned at least one AWS certification; a further 13% are studying for their first.
Many professionals in the cloud community have used the challenges brought on by the global health crisis to upskill further still; a third of respondents stated using their time in lockdown or on furlough to advance their professional development and gain more certifications.
The survey also revealed how earning certifications can increase market value, with 37% of those certified reporting a salary increase after becoming certified.
Employers clearly value the additional knowledge and skills that certifications can imbue within AWS professionals. Not only did over a third of employers offer certified employees a pay rise, but 62% of certified respondents also said their employer contributed toward the cost of their certifications, with 50% stating that their employer paid for certification in full.
Respondents were also asked which AWS certification they believed was most likely to increase your earning potential; the AWS Solutions Architect (Professional) certification was the clear winner, with 67% of the vote.
Certifications are not the most significant factor when it comes upping your market value as an AWS professional, however, according to participants. Exposure to large cloud projects was cited by 83% of professionals as the element that has the most impact on earning power. Experience within the IT industry, and experience with AWS specifically came in just behind with 80% and 77% of respondents respectively citing them as important. This finding clearly illustrates that, while valuable, certifications do not supersede hands-on involvement in the eyes of the AWS community.
Proven, practical experience with the cloud platform is in high demand: when AWS customers were asked about the key challenges they faced both during migration and following implementation, the top answer was a lack of internal skills.
The report highlights the need for more cloud professionals to fill the skills gap and the opportunity presented by the blossoming ecosystem, particularly when many organizations are moving their infrastructure online to adapt to an increasingly digital world.
Jefferson Frank Chairman and CEO James Lloyd-Townshend said: “We’re delighted to once again present our annual Jefferson Frank Salary Survey. I believe the insights the report surfaces are especially vital this year as we face unprecedented challenges as an industry.”
He added, “With the whole world under additional pressures at the moment, I hope the results of our report will help employers and professionals alike to make informed decisions and positive changes that will enable the community to continue to thrive.”
The full report can be downloaded for free here.
ABOUT JEFFERSON FRANK INTERNATIONAL
Jefferson Frank is an APN Advanced Technology Partner and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) recruiter of choice with teams specializing in DevOps, big data and business intelligence, IaaS/PaaS, and security.
We work with organizations worldwide to find and place the best AWS professionals on the planet. We have a proven track record servicing the AWS recruitment market, having delivered outstanding AWS professionals for over 5,000 employers across the globe to date.
Jefferson Frank is part of the award-winning Frank Recruitment Group, the staffing arm of talent-as-a-service firm Tenth Revolution Group. Tenth Revolution Group is backed by TPG Growth, the growth equity platform of alternative asset firm TPG.
For more information, visit: www.jeffersonfrank.com
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