Dive Brief:

• Cloud job postings per million rose 42% since March 2018 on Indeed, according to data provided by the company Tuesday. Indeed calculated the percentage change in the share of cloud job postings for every million posts between March 2018 and March 2021.

• Cloud engineer, software architect and cloud consultant top the list of most in-demand cloud roles in 2021, according to the company. 

• "Essentially every meaningful consumer application or service that you can think of today is based on cloud technology," a trend that has led demand for cloud talent to soar, said Scott Bonneau, VP of global talent attraction at Indeed.

Dive Insight:

Businesses need talent to support their cloud initiatives, as the technology acts as the backbone for modern IT infrastructure. Without a cloud strategy, companies risk giving up the operational and cost upsides of the cloud.

"In the 2010s it became clear that cloud-based solutions can provide the best mix of flexibility, speed, and cost-effectiveness for a huge range of technology solutions, especially mobile and API-based applications," said Bonneau. Top providers such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft "invested heavily in building vast infrastructure and useful services," in the last decade. 

But with pressure on IT teams to outfit their companies with innovative cloud implementations, over 80% of cloud leaders say a lack of internal skills and knowledge is a key obstacle to their ability to succeed in the cloud, according to a report from A Cloud Guru. 

"There's a huge talent war that's going on," said Sridhar Karimanal, head of the Health and Life Sciences group at Eagle Hill Consulting. Leaders are struggling to find talent, especially those focused in high-tech areas. 

CompTIA data shows job postings that mention the words "cloud skills" grew 40.5% between the first quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2021. Cloud engineer, cloud architect and senior cloud engineer are the top three roles employers are looking for, according to the IT trade group.

To attract the cloud talent, leaders must assess and identify their talent needs, understand their value proposition as a potential employer, and expand their hiring sources by considering candidates from non-traditional backgrounds, Bonneau previously told CIO Dive.

Cloud training, which some vendors offer at no charge, can help upskill adjacent and entry-level talent, getting workers up to speed to stave off the skills shortage — though vendor lock-in is a concern.

Another tool to gain the upper hand amid the talent fray lies in a successful hybrid work approach. 

In a hybrid work framework, employers are not "constrained by resources or talent that are local to your geography, you can pretty much go anywhere in the U.S., and I'd argue outside of the U.S., and be able to get the talent that you're looking for," said Karimanal.