​With the focus shifting to profitability for many born-tech startups, the brakes are being held on DevOps hiring. Since the start of Q1, however, traditional sectors like mining, logistics, and manufacturing, appear to be business as usual.

The rise of containerised application deployment is changing the nature of work for many of the world’s DevOps professionals. A widespread adoption of Kubernetes, Azure, and AWS means cloud native skillsets are in demand, and we have seen a range of companies move away from traditional siloed roles with a long-term view of view of eliminating them entirely.

A continued shift towards the more cost-effective serverless software architecture, combined with the desire to eliminate more traditional roles means employers are searching for a variety of skill sets, with many investing substantially in learning and development opportunities. On the other side of the coin, the acceleration of technological advancement has perpetuated the DevOps skill gap, with many companies struggling to build teams that can keep up.

We have seen more companies offering increased flexibility to meet candidate demands, specifically international working opportunities with much less emphasis placed on in-person working.

Just like a wealth of other areas in tech, weathering the potential economic storm has led to a huge amount of hesitation, particularly in the German market. Building a new technical product is extremely expensive, and companies restrained by big budget cuts are waiting for the dust of the new year to settle. We have seen a flip side to this – when companies are hiring, it means the roles are business-critical and calculated, reducing the odds of a layoff in the near future.

This is a similar situation to what we saw in the pandemic era of 2020 and 2021, where companies recognise that they cannot afford to not hire DevOps professionals. In many cases, growing external pressures like the conflict in Ukraine, depleting resources, Brexit, the looming recession and ever-changing regulations (the British IR35 bill reform being a great example) have all contributed to the adoption of staggered hiring plans, with recruitment pencilled in to start in the coming quarters

Employers are Attracting the Best Talent By:

• Offering learning initiatives on exciting new projects and platforms

• Providing increased flexibility through international remote working opportunities

• Building healthy and inclusive company cultures

Candidate Tends

DevOps engineers have retained one of the most sought-after titles in tech for the past few years, and they still command some incredibly high wages as a result. That said, salary expectations will need to come down soon, as the pressure of wage inflation starts to mount for many employers in the tech space.

We’ve witnessed an increase in horizontal movement among DevOps professionals, as some candidates are forgoing a monetary motive in favour of learning and development opportunities. Generally, we’ve found that DevOps engineers are likely to move roles for a substantial salary increase of between 15-25%, increasing with the complexity and locale of the project.

Candidates are Increasingly Looking For:

• Supportive Workplaces

• Certification Schemes

• Increased Process Automation

• Support from Trust in SODA

Whether you’re hoping to hire or get hired, Trust in SODA’s community-led approach to recruitment has got you covered. Contact the team today to learn more about our market-leading service, our global network, or all things tech!

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