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Linux hiring frenzy: Why open source devs are being bombarded with offers to jump ship

Figures from the Linux Foundation suggest skills shortages across disciplines and throughout Europe.
Written by Colin Barker, Contributor

Nine out of ten (87 percent) of hiring managers in Europe have "hiring Linux talent" on their list of priorities and almost half (48 percent) say they are looking to hire people with Linux skills within the next six months.

But while they either need or want to hire more people with Linux skills, the data from the Linux Foundation suggests that this is easier said than done. Almost all — 93 percent — of the managers surveyed said they were having difficulty finding IT professionals with the Linux skills required and a quarter (25 percent) said they have "delayed projects as a result".

All of this makes it a good time to be a Linux expert.

Seven out of 10 Europe-based Linux professionals have received calls where they were pitched new positions in the past six months, and a third said they had received more calls than in the previous six months.  One in three are looking to move anyway, and over half of them said it would be fairly or very easy. Salary is the biggest reason to move jobs, followed by work-life balance and the chance to gain additional skills.

Employers are trying harder to keep hold of staff too: In the past six months, 29 percent of Linux professionals say they have been offered a higher salary from their current employers, while a quarter said they’ve been offered a flexible work schedule and one in five have been extended additional training opportunities or certification.

The Linux Foundation, a non-profit organisation which supports the growth of Linux, and Dice Holdings, which provides career sites for technology professionals, produced the research which covers Europe and the US.

In terms of the specific skills organisations are looking for people with the developer (69 percent) and enterprise management (51 percent) skills. These are followed by 32 percent of respondents who are looking for people with a combination of development and operations skills (DevOps), and 19 percent who are in management/IT management.

The Linux Job Report has been produced for the last three years by the Linux Foundation and Dice but this is the first time that a specific report on European skills has been separated out of the worldwide report. Some 893 Linux professionals responded to the survey across Europe.

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