The Containerization Job Market in 2022

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Containerization builds on the strengths of virtualization by bundling application components to run in isolated user spaces.

As cybersecurity threat numbers rise with the increased need for storage and computing power that is scalable and highly available, containerization delivers feature-rich tools and consistency to help with application security — pushing demand and staffing needs in the category.

See below to learn all about the state of the containerization job market, including the current job opportunities and prerequisites for being successful in the field:

The Containerization Market 

The containerization market was estimated to be worth $1.2 billion in 2018, and it is forecast to reach $4.98 billion by 2023, according to Markets and Markets

The firm reports this growth can be attributed to the large-scale modernization of existing business-critical applications, which means more migrations to the cloud.

The agility of container services, including their ease of deployment, ability to scale, and support of rapid development and testing practices, make them useful for enterprises looking to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and streamline IT management.

Containerization Job Types

Containerization-related positions often build on existing cloud-related careers. In most cases, containerization is an added expertise to network or software development, implementation, and support experience.

Below are a few examples of IT careers that can specialize in containerization:

Position Focus
Cloud engineer Cloud engineers help organizations by creating, testing, implementing, supporting cloud computing applications. These individuals are often responsible for determining client needs and suggesting new solutions or optimizations for existing technologies.
Senior cloud engineer Building upon the duties of cloud engineers, senior cloud engineers contribute more to team management and collaboration efforts with other development and support teams.
AWS cloud engineer Often described as evangelists of the cloud operating model, AWS cloud engineers specialize in the AWS platform and toolkits.
Data center operations engineer Data center operations engineers are responsible for keeping servers and networks available and operating smoothly, supporting the infrastructure required for containerization.
Cybersecurity engineer Cybersecurity engineers with containerization experience ensure application components are configured correctly and run inside secure, isolated, virtual user spaces.
Software engineer Software engineers design, write, test, and maintain the software used in containerization-related solutions.
Senior software engineer Senior software engineers have the same skills and responsibilities as software engineers, with increased responsibilities, experience, and ownership.
Enterprise architect Enterprise architects are responsible for the design that supports the application development, application procurement, and overall IT infrastructure for an organization. They ensure all needs are met, security is maintained, and long-term goals are planned for, with an eye toward current best practices and use of the best technologies.
Senior enterprise architect Senior enterprise architects extend the more junior enterprise architect role with the same responsibilities and the addition of collaboration and leadership activities.

Education for Containerization Roles

For individuals looking to work in containerization-related positions, a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information science is considered an asset. Experience is also highly valued and may be the real key to securing lucrative positions.

Though many colleges and universities do not currently include courses that are entirely focused on containerization, many are starting to offer cloud-related certificate programs, like the Cloud Computing Professional Development Certificate at McGill University.

The best background is generalized education in software development and networking and hardware infrastructures. Those looking to bridge skill gaps with training can look toward classes offered by learning platforms, like Cloud Academy, PluralSight, and Global Knowledge.

Containerization Certifications

One of the best ways to prove your skills as an experienced containerization expert or to demonstrate a containerization skill set is to become certified.

The IT industry offers several containerization certifications to choose from:

  • Docker Certified Associate (DCA)
  • Arcitura Certified Containerization Architect
  • Linux Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)
  • Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA)
  • Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
  • Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
  • Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)
  • Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration
  • Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Application Development
  • Red Hat Certified Specialist in Containers and Kubernetes

Containerization Job Openings

Many top companies are currently looking to hire professionals with containerization expertise. 

LinkedIn currently lists over 16,797 open containerization-related jobs. Some of the positions being recruited for include:

  • Principal technical program manager
  • Staff software engineer, container platforms/Kubernetes
  • Senior software engineer, DevOps
  • Senior DevOps engineer
  • Senior cloud architect
  • Senior application analyst
  • Senior software engineer
  • Front-end software developer

Salaries for Containerization Roles

The table below show the median annual salaries for a selection of containerization-related positions, estimated by Glassdoor:

Position Median salary
Cloud engineer $119,224
Senior cloud engineer $140,053
AWS cloud engineer $121,759
Data center operations engineer $98,774
Cybersecurity engineer $118,720
Software engineer $116,732
Senior software engineer $137,884
Enterprise architect $149,529
Senior enterprise architect $155,580

Conclusions

Organizations are benefiting from containerization in several ways: to streamline application development; scale speed and storage as needed; control and minimize costs; and increase availability and dependability, without adding management overhead. As containerization usage continues to increase, the demand for experienced professionals to design, develop, manage, and maintain them will also rise.

Jillian Koskie
Jillian Koskie
Jillian Koskie is an experienced software developer, writer, business analyst, and usability design expert. With over 24 years in these roles, she has enjoyed applying her considerable skill set to assist clients and users across a wide variety of sectors, including legal, health, and financial services. Combining these professional opportunities with a love of technology, Koskie is pleased to act as a trusted advisor, contribute articles, voice opinions, and offer advice to numerous organizations, news outlets, websites, and publications.

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