In the era before the pandemic, cloud computing was growing at a faster rate than IT/technology as a whole. The consensus was that the growth in demand for Salesforce talent would continue over the coming years, with an estimated 3.3 million jobs worldwide by the end of 2022 (IDC Report, 2017). No one could’ve predicted what would come next, with COVID-19 and the resulting need for businesses to invest in cloud-based systems at an even faster rate.
Inevitably, this fast growth in the market has created a situation whereby demand outweighs supply in terms of Salesforce Professionals. For the financial year 2022, the growth in demand for Salesforce talent was astounding (364% YoY), but growth in supply of talent reduced. In other words, if these rates continue in their current direction, the number of Salesforce roles will continue to expand, and the pool of qualified candidates to fill them will continue to get smaller.
Salesforce have forecast that their YoY revenue growth will continue in the same vein as it has done for 20 years, at around or over 20%, to bring the total predicted revenue of the company to $31.8 billion at the end of FY23. The Salesforce partner ecosystem is far larger than Salesforce as a company, and this is only growing year on year as well. So, it doesn’t look as though things will be slowing down any time soon.
So how can current or prospective Salesforce professionals capitalise on this? If you have Salesforce certifications, you are very much in demand. Get an ear to the ground and call on your Salesforce community to share experiences and opportunities- you might find you’re missing out on that dream role, company, or work/life balance by staying put somewhere for longer than planned. You might find it hands you the evidence to open a discourse with your current employer, giving you the opportunity to ask for what you want.
Consider your salary, benefits package, the flexibility of your working model, and your potential progression within the company. You might find that a conversation with a specialist recruitment consultant about your possible pathways and options is insightful, and if anything, it’s just a great networking opportunity for the future.
For the growth rate of talent supply to increase, however, there are a number of things a company might do to meet the needs of their Salesforce projects. They may recruit or retain their current staff through the conversations we’ve discussed above, they may buy the talent through outsourcing or acquiring a Salesforce consultancy (which is happening frequently these days), or they might invest in training. The opportunities are extensive if you are thinking of starting a career as a Salesforce professional.
Trailhead is a platform for anybody to join the Trailblazer community and gain Salesforce Certifications. There are 9 career pathways you can follow: Administrator, Developer, Architect, Business Analyst, Marketing, Sales, Consultant, Service and Designer. The most in demand skills for 2021 were in Salesforce Sales Cloud, Lightning and Service Cloud. The demand for Salesforce Administrator roles grew by 746% last year. Now is a great, and feasible, time to jump onto the bandwagon.
If you want to have a further discussion about the market and what opportunities there might be for you, get in touch today.