New 2018 Open Source Technology Jobs Report Released Today: Rapid Growth in Demand for Open Source Tech Talent - Linux Foundation

Seventh Annual Report from The Linux Foundation and Dice.com Reveals Demand for Linux Coding is Back on Top as Most Sought After Open Source Skill and  Demand for Container Technologies Soars

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, June 19, 2018 –  The need for Open Source Technology skills are on the rise and companies and organizations continue to increase their recruitment of open source technology talent, while offering additional training and certification opportunities for existing staff in order to fill skills gaps, according to the 2018 Open Source Jobs Report, released today by The Linux Foundation and Dice. 87% of hiring managers report difficulty finding open source talent, and nearly half (48%) report their organizations have begun to support open source projects with code or other resources for the explicit reason of recruiting individuals with those software skills. After a hiatus, Linux skills are back on top as the most sought after skill with 80% of hiring managers looking for tech professionals with Linux expertise. 55% of employers are now also offering to pay for employee certifications, up from 47% in 2017 and only 34% in 2016.

“Open source technology talent is in high  demand, as Linux and other open source software dominates software development,” said Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin. “I am encouraged that that companies are recognizing more and more each day that open source technology is the way to advance their businesses. The Linux Foundation, our members and the open source ecosystem are focused on ensuring training and certification opportunities are highly accessible to everyone who wants to seek them out and we are supporting the developer community and its growth in every possible way.”

This is the seventh year Dice®, the leading career site for technology and engineering professionals, and The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, are partnering to produce this jobs report. As with the last two reports, the focus is on all aspects of open source software; the first four years focused more specifically on Linux professionals.

The 2018 Open Source Jobs Report examines trends in open source careers, which skills are most in demand, motivation for open source professionals and how employers attract and retain qualified talent.

“Hiring skilled technology professionals remains a real pain point for employers and our report shows newer skills like containers are growing in popularity, putting more pressure on organizations to find good talent to carry out necessary projects,” said Art Zeile, President and CEO of DHI Group, Inc., parent company of Dice.

Key findings from the 2018 Open Source Jobs Report include:

• Hiring open source talent is a priority for 83% of hiring managers, an increase from 76% in 2017.
• Linux is back on top as the most in-demand open source skill category, with 80% of hiring managers looking for Linux talent, making it required knowledge for most entry-level open source careers, likely due to the strong popularity of cloud and container technologies, as well as DevOps practices, all of which typically run on Linux.
• Containers are rapidly growing in popularity and importance, with 57% of hiring managers seeking that expertise, up from only 27% last year.
• There’s a gulf between the views of hiring managers and open source pros on the effectiveness of efforts to improve diversity in the industry, with only 52% of employees seeing efforts as effective compared to 70% of employers.
• Hiring managers are moving away from hiring outside consultants, increasingly opting to train existing employees on new open source technologies and help them gain certifications.
• Many organizations are getting involved in open source with the express purpose of attracting developers.  

The annual report features data from more than 750 hiring managers at corporations, small and medium businesses (SMBs), government organizations, and staffing agencies across the globe—as well as responses from more than 6,500 open source professionals worldwide.

The full 2018 Open Source Jobs Report is available to download for free from https://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/open-source-jobs-report-2018/.

About Dice
Dice is a leading tech career hub connecting employers with skilled technology
professionals and providing tech professionals with career opportunities, data, insights and
advice. Established in 1990, Dice began as one of the first career sites and today provides a
comprehensive suite of recruiting solutions, empowering companies and recruiters to make
informed hiring decisions. Dice serves multiple markets throughout North America and
Europe. www.Dice.com, Twitter, Facebook. Dice is a DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE:DHX) service.

About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and
companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and industry
adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest
technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history.
Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale
any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any
one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of
trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page:
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

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