Cloudy with a chance of higher earnings

The latest 2022 Cloud Salary Survey from O'Reilly shows that tech workers make more money in hybrid or remote work scenarios and gain increased salary and skills training through workplace learning.

It also shows that 20 percent of tech workers report they've already changed employers over the last year, and 25 percent of respondents are planning to find new employment with better compensation.

Of the cloud professionals surveyed almost two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents work completely remote full-time, and 31 percent follow a hybrid schedule, reporting to the office between one and four days a week. The survey also discovered that hybrid work is associated with higher overall salaries -- the average reported salary for hybrid staff is $188,000, while full-time remote workers made slightly less ($184,000). Full-time in-office workers reported the lowest average salary at $131,000.

In addition 48 percent of respondents have participated in technical training or certification programs in the last year, with 18 percent obtaining one or more certifications. Hours spent training were found to have a direct link to increased compensation. However, money isn't the only factor driving training; respondents cited learning new technologies (42 percent), improving existing skills (40 percent), and working on more interesting projects (21 percent) as the most popular reasons for taking part in learning and development.

"Cloud professionals are currently the most sought-after tech talent and therefore have the ability to choose from an array of employment options that best fit their lifestyle. During the pandemic, we witnessed millions of workers resign from companies in an effort to reconfigure their careers and take deliberate steps toward new job opportunities with higher wages and better alignment between their work and life goals," says Laura Baldwin, president of O'Reilly. "With these workers in such demand, we anticipate the great tech exodus to continue unless employers step up with competitive pay, substantial benefits, remote work flexibility, and on-the-job learning and development."

Among other findings, the average salary increase over the past year was 4.3 percent. The average salary for women though is seven percent lower than the average salary for men. In the US average compensation is highest in California ($214,000), followed by New York ($212,000) and Washington ($203,000). Respondents between the ages of 45 and 54 have the highest average salary ($196,000).

The full survey is available from the O’Reilly site.

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