Dice this week released it’s annual Salary Survey (2013-2012 Salary Survey) and the results were good news for everyone, showing the largest jump in tech salaries in more than a decade. But the news was especially sweet for Linux pro’s.
While tech professionals overall saw a 5 percent jump in average salaries, Linux professionals saw nearly double that with 9 percent growth in paychecks. Dice.com VP Jennifer Bewley told PCWorld’s Katherine Noyes: “We’ve known Linux is a core skill, but it’s starting to get a bankable reputation. More Linux, more money.”
Furthermore, while average tech bonuses were down a bit, Linux pro’s saw a bump in bonuses.
Why does Linux talent garner a higher salary and bonus? At least one reason can be found in what Dice cited as the three skill areas in the highest demand: mobile, cloud and data. Linux is the foundation for each of these technology trends – from Android in mobile to open cloud and the high-performance servers that support big data. Generally, Linux runs more of today’s computing infrastructure than ever before, and the demand for Linux talent and the benefits that come with those jobs is supporting evidence.
If you’re interested in learning more about Linux, whether you’re a total newbie, have flirted with the mailing lists or are an experienced Linux pro, you might check out what the Linux experts have told us about how to get paid to work on Linux. The biggest piece of advice? Start contributing to open source projects now and build your reputation. So much software is developed today in the open, and it creates a virtual resume of your work. Don’t be a phantom.
We also invite you to take a look at The Linux Foundation’s Linux training program, which offers classes for both developers and enterprise managers and covers everything from embedded Linux development to cloud architecture and deployment to the open source development model. You can also check out our 100 Linux Tutorials library for free video tutorials on a variety of topics, and even start contributing to the community by sharing your best tutorial.
It’s never been easier to get involved in Linux. What are you waiting for? The payoff could be huge for you, and your contributions huge for the advancement of Linux.
