Cloud Computing is expected to create 14 million new jobs worldwide by 2015
If Microsoft is correct, the push to switch to cloud computing will create 14 million jobs by 2015. That would be worldwide job growth with seven million of those jobs in China and India. North America will account for less than a half million of those new jobs.
According to Susan Hauser, corporate vice president, Worldwide Enterprise and Partner Group, Microsoft, Microsoft commissioned a study on Cloud Computing and Worldwide Job Creation from IDC. The results showed that cloud computing would create worldwide job growth equally in both small and large businesses.
While the study commissioned by Microsoft has good news for cloud computing companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others, many of which are based in the United States, it also presents troubling news for the United States as a whole. The United States is expected to see the smallest job growth stemming from this new technology than any other country in the world.
The highest percentage of job growth is expected to be in Mexico and South America. Mexico is expected to have cloud related job growth of 382 percent with Colombia’s growth at 389 percent, Brazil with 386 percent, Chile with 376 percent and Argentine with 368 percent. Rounding out the Americas, Canada is expected to have cloud computing job growth of a paltry-in-comparison 96 percent and the United States will have a lousy 66 percent.
Incredibly, India, China and Korea are the only other countries expected to have below at least 100 percent growth. the rest of Europe and Asia can anticipate between 103 percent to 168 percent cloud based job growth. The one surprising exception in the rest of the world is Egypt. Egypt is expected to have an explosive cloud computing job growth of 254 percent.
Legacy drag, security, and regulation seem to be factors that are expected to slow down adoption of cloud computing in certain sectors such as banking, government, and the health industry. The fastest going vertical industry segment will be communications and media. That’s because that segment is already one of the biggest purchasers of private cloud storage for its customers.
Cloud Computing Jobs by Industry. A larger version of this graph can be found here
IDC’s results are based on the net gain in jobs having factored in potential job losses. For IT personnel, the shift to cloud computing will require different skill sets but ultimately should be a lot more challenging and innovative. Rather than constantly “putting out fires”, IT personnel will be expected to provide more input into the strategic use and innovation of technology within the company and organization.
The United States while a very innovative country when it comes to technology, is not going to benefit as much from cloud computing growth as the rest of the world. That is, in part, because the United States is already so invested in cloud computing and its resulting innovations that there isn’t as much room for growth. Our slow climb out of recession would really benefit from the kind of growth that is expected in the rest of the world and especially in our Southern neighbors.
That simply means that the United States needs to create the next big technology innovations while squeezing as many jobs out of the cloud computing wave as possible.
All graphs from Microsoft.
