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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.
Most of the things that are in the cloud are, to be more precise, in someone's cloud. There's a good chance it's Amazon's cloud, and Microsoft has steadily puffed up its own share of the market. There are other major players, but the point is that a lot of the cloud technology out there is tied to specific software ecosystem.
There are principles that apply to everyone's cloud tech, of course, and it's useful to understand the fundamentals before specializing. That's where a relative handful of cloud credentials like CompTIA's Cloud+ certification (No. 28 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) come in. Cloud+ can prepare you to slot right in no matter where you go from there.
Here's what the salary picture looks like for CompTIA Cloud+ holders who responded to the Salary Survey:
All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $121,760
Median Annual Salary: $110,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 10.6 percent
Very Satisfied: 30.3 percent
Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 21.2 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 4.6 percent
All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $73,430
Median Annual Salary: $72,860
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 13.3 percent
Very Satisfied: 21.7 percent
Satisfied: 39.1 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 13 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 12.9 percent
Roughly 71 percent of the Cloud+ credential holders we heard from live and work in the United States, but we did hear from Cloud+ holders in 18 other countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Canada, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Maldives, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
Most of the Cloud+ holders who responded to the survey are men — 70 percent — but we did hear from 21.5 percent who are women. The rest are either transgender male (5.1 percent of respondents), transgender female (1.5 percent), gender variant/nonconforming (0.7 percent), or chose not to identify their gender (0.8 percent). Perhaps not surprisingly, given the overall newness of cloud computing and its tricks, a substantial chunk of the credential holders we heard from are relatively young pups. Slightly more than 65 percent of those surveyed are 44 or younger, either between the ages of 25 and 34 (20.2 percent) or between the ages of 35 and 44 (46.1 percent). The rest are either between the ages of 45 and 54 (32.6 percent) or between the ages of 55 and 64 (1.1 percent).
More than 85 percent of the Cloud+ holders who participated in the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most Cloud+ holders is either a bachelor's degree (41.6 percent of respondents), master's degree (30.4 percent), associate's degree (10.1 percent), doctorate (3.4 percent), or professional degree (2.2 percent). That accounts for everyone except for the 5.6 percent of respondents who exited the realm after completing some level of post-high school technical training, the 4.5 percent who highest educational attainment is a high school diploma, and the 2.2 percent who are currently furthering their educational pursuits.
Rougly 66 percent of Cloud+-certified survey respondents have full-time jobs, with 10.4 percent in part-time positions, 6.7 percent who are currently students, 7.4 percent on sabbatical, and 9.6 percent who are out of work. For most of those with full-time jobs, their work schedule is either 40 hours per week (44.4 percent of those surveyed), between 41 and 50 hours per week (26.1 percent), or between 31 and 39 hours per week (13.6 percent). A truly fortunate 3.4 percent of respondents have a full-time schedule that consists of fewer than 20 hours per week and 1.1 percent are on the clock for between 20 and 30 hours per week, while a hard-charging 11.4 percent put in more than 50 hours per week.
In the trailing wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, 31 percent of respondents are spending most (or all) of those hours wearing sweatpants or bathrobes (or both), working from home either 40 hours per week (17.1 percent) or more than 40 hours per week (13.6 percent). In the middle are the 32 percent of respondents who work from home either between 31 and 39 hours per week (10.2 percent) or between 21 and 30 hours per week (21.6 percent). About 37 percent are still mostly tied to a traditional office setting, working from home either between 10 and 20 hours per week (12.5 percent) or fewer than 10 hours per week (25 percent).
In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of Cloud+ holders we heard from are employed at either the manager or senior manager level (20.7 percent of respondents for both). The rest, in descending order, are either senior specialists (19.4 percent of respondents), rank-and-file employees (14.8 percent), directors (13.3 percent), specialists (9.6 percent), or executives (1.5 percent).
A tick more than 28 percent of the Cloud+ holders who participated in the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of 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 (17 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (28.1 percent), between 6 and 8 years (20 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (6.7 percent).
Finally, here's the view of Cloud+ 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: 34.8 percent
Several times a week: 37 percent
Several times a month: 11.9 percent
Occasionally: 11.1 percent
Rarely: 5.2 percent
Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 39.3 percent
Agree: 27.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 19.3 percent
Disagree: 6.6 percent
Strongly Disagree: 7.4 percent
Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 31.9 percent
Agree: 37.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 20.7 percent
Disagree: 5.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: 3.7 percent
Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 22.2 percent
Agree: 40 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 19.3 percent
Disagree: 11.1 percent
Strongly Disagree: 7.4 percent
PAST CLOUD+ DEEP FOCUS FEATURES
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