According to our survey, 70% of hiring managers believe there is an IT skills gap in the AWS community, with 45% of those respondents highlighting the time it takes to find talent as their main challenge to tackling this divide.

Honing in on skills development, 82% of professionals believe that certifications make you a more valuable candidate, yet only 58% hold one (down from 59% in our last survey). The tangible impact of certs shouldn’t be underestimated either, with those reporting a pay rise post-certification averaging a sizeable increase of 23%.

And employers, take note, as a lack of wage growth is the top reason for an employee seeking a job elsewhere.

Salary aside though, candidates are also looking for competitive benefits, with a generous amount of time off and home working topping our poll as the most enticing perks.

Our study also spotlighted equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and found that only 59% of employees believe their employer provides equal pay for equal work. And with just 66% of businesses investing resources into EDI initiatives—a drop of 3% since our last report—progress appears to be stagnating.

We’ll dig into these trends and much more in the rest of this guide, so please read our latest findings, commentary, and tips at your leisure.

A big thank you to everyone who took part in our survey; your insights make this publication possible. Look out for your chance to take part again next year!

Until then,

Zoë