The current job market for hardware and storage engineers is growing but that growth is slow.
As global device users create exponentially more stored data over the next three years, demand for hardware also increases. Enterprises need hardware experts with a range of experience and skills with storage mediums.
Demand for hardware and storage employees, while increasing, will grow at a lesser rate than the demand for software engineers.
See below to learn what positions are available in the storage hardware market and what skills engineers and technicians need to be competitive:
Storage Hardware Job Market
- The Job Market
- Storage Hardware Job Types
- Education for Storage Hardware Roles
- Storage Hardware Job Openings
- Storage Hardware Salaries
- Conclusions
Also Read: SSD Market: Intro, Features, Benefits, and Providers
The Job Market
The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 2% growth rate for computer hardware engineer positions from 2020-2030, which it notes as slower than average.
By comparison, software engineering demand is increasing more quickly: the BLS expects 22% job growth for the software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers market.
Also Read: Cloud Computing Job Market 2021
Storage Hardware Job Types
Storage hardware-focused roles typically include experience with storage market trends and technologies, including:
- Primary and archival storage
- Solid-state drives (SSDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), tape, and optical devices
- Storage protocols and buses
- PC and server architecture, such as x86 servers and CPU cores
- Storage technologies, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID)
The following are storage hardware roles in the job market and sample requirements that employers may expect for each role:
| Job Title | Storage Hardware Responsibilities |
| Systems Hardware Engineer |
|
| Storage Administrator |
|
| Infrastructure Engineer |
|
| Hardware Product Manager |
|
| Senior Hardware Engineer |
|
| Systems Administrator (Advanced) |
|
Education for Storage Hardware Roles
Many high-paying storage hardware positions require at least a bachelor’s degree, and some require a master’s degree.
Hardware engineers typically have at least a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, computer science, or another related engineering field.
Hardware and storage engineers may also choose to earn a technical certificate from an accredited institution. Common certifications for computer hardware engineers to hold include Certified LabVIEW Developer (CLD) and Engineer in Training (EIT) certifications. The EIT is one step to earning a professional engineering license, according to Zippia.
Storage Hardware Job Openings
There are over 8,000 jobs available tied to storage hardware in the U.S., according to LinkedIn. Here are some of the positions:
- Hardware systems engineer – storage
- Storage administrator
- Infrastructure engineer
- Principal storage hardware architect
- Senior hardware engineer
- Storage management consultant
- Senior storage hardware architect
- Systems administrator (advanced)
- Data center operations
- Server administrator
Storage Hardware Salaries
The table below shows a range of salaries for hardware and storage positions, according to Glassdoor:
| Job Title | Salary Range (Median) |
| Server/systems administrator | $73,000-76,000 |
| Storage administrator | $91,000 |
| Infrastructure engineer | $101,000 |
| Systems hardware engineer | $109,000 |
| Senior hardware engineer | $131,000 |
| Senior storage engineer | $133,000 |
(Source: Glassdoor)
Conclusions
Professional positions in hardware and storage require significant technical experience and often a college degree. Knowledge of storage protocols, hardware configuration, and networking is useful in an enterprise environment that prioritizes technology and storage. Although the hardware job market isn’t growing as rapidly as the market for software-related roles, many requirements for hardware and storage engineering are also useful skills for software roles.
