Salary Survey Extra�is a series of dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our annual Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

There's a lot to do for a Linux system administrator, including backups, file restores, disaster recovery, new system builds, hardware maintenance, automation, user maintenance, file system housekeeping, and more. The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) has an excellent credential to verify that you have all those skills: LPIC-1: Linux Administrator, which checked in at No. 50 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for LPIC-1: Linux Administrator holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $108,390
Median Annual Salary: $105,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 14.5 percent
Very Satisfied: 35.7 percent
Satisfied: 28.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 14.1 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 7.1 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $79,150
Median Annual Salary: $77,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 13.5 percent
Very Satisfied: 13.8 percent
Satisfied: 31.8 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 40.9 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

The largest single body of LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (41 percent of those surveyed), but we also heard from credential holders in 12 other countries: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Grenada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

Most of the LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders who responded to the survey are men, but not all of them—5.1 percent of those surveyed are women. Generally speaking, the pool of credential holders is unusually youthful, with 25 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 and 33.4 percent between the ages of 35 and 44. Out of the remaining 40 percent of respondents, 22.2 percent are between the ages of 45 and 54 and 19.4 percent are between the ages of 55 and 64.

Roughly 95 percent of LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders is either a bachelor's degree (63.9 percent of those surveyed) or a master's degree (30.6 percent). The outliers are the 2.9 percent of respondents who exited the realm of formal education after getting a high school diploma, and the 2.6 percent who are currently engaged in educational pursuits.

There's a strongly positive employment outlook for LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders: 92.3 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time and 2.6 percent have part-time jobs, with the remaining 5.1 percent out of work. Among those with full-time jobs, most are at work either between 41 and 50 hours per week (30.6 percent of those surveyed) or for the standard 40 hours per week (55.6 percent). The rest are either punching the clock for more than 50 hours per week (2.8 percent of respondents) or between 31 and 39 hours per week (11 percent).

In terms of where those hours are being spent, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic redrew the workplace landscape to a considerable degree for LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders. More than half of those surveyed are filling their entire work schedule outside the lines, so to speak,  working from home either more than 40 hours per week (22.8 percent) or 40 hours per week (28.6 percent) with a further 11 percent working from home either between 31 and 39 hours per week (8,5 percent) or between 21 and 30 hours per week (2.9 percent). That means just 36 percent of credential holders are schlepping it to a traditional office for at least half of their work schedule, working from home either between 10 and 20 hour per week (2.9 percent) or for fewer than 10 hours per week.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (54.7 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (19.1 percent of respondents), managers (11.9 percent),rank-and-file employees (7.1 percent), directors (4.8 percent), or senior managers (2.4 percent).

A core 57.1 percent of the LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role the directly utilizes their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (7.1 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (7.1 percent), between 6 and 8 years (12 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (16.7 percent).

Finally, here's the view of LPIC-1 Linux Administrator holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 40.6 percent
Several times a week: 42.8 percent
Several times a month: 11.9 percent
Occasionally: 2.6 percent
Rarely: 2.1 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 26.2 percent
Agree: 42.9 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 21.4 percent
Disagree: 7.1 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.4 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 19 percent
Agree: 45.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 21.4 percent
Disagree: 9.5 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4.8 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 14.3 percent
Agree: 50 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 16.7 percent
Disagree: 14.3 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4.7 percent

PAST LPIC-1: LINUX ADMINISTRATOR DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2020

2019