The Global Kubernetes market size stands at 2.11 billion USD in 2024 and is expected to reach 11.8 billion by 2032, a CAGR increase of 24%.
While the Kubernetes market is booming, so is Hybrid as a working mode for tech jobs, as employees find the option to work Hybrid equivalent to an 8% wage increase, and 46% would rather quit if they are asked to report to the Office every day.
Interestingly, 30% of Kubernetes jobs now embrace the hybrid work model! This intriguing trend raises some compelling questions: How competitive are the salaries for these hybrid positions? Which job titles offer the most hybrid work? What is the future preference for working modes in the tech industry?
We will answer the above questions (and perhaps more) by analysing the Kubernetes job market data. We’ll use Kube Careers’ State of the Kubernetes jobs market report 2024 for our analysis, wherein they have collected more than 25,000 jobs, meticulously filtering these down to a dataset of 4850 jobs.
What are their criteria for the filtration? All jobs listed must require Kubernetes experience, mention explicit salary ranges, and not be listed by recruitment agencies.
Let’s dig through some numbers, shall we?
1 in 3 Kubernetes Jobs Is Hybrid
Of the 4850 jobs published in 2024, 1803 (37%) were strictly In-Office jobs requiring Office presence 5 days a week, 1679 (34.61%) were Hybrid jobs — most of these mention a minimum frequency of weekly In-Office visits, and 1368 (28.20%) were Remote jobs — most of these were restricted within a geography.
Hybrid Jobs Have Increased Year-on-Year, but It May Not Be the Case in 2025
A quarterly view of the preferences for working modes gives us a clearer picture of the trend.
Here are the key takeaways from the year-on-year comparison:
- Remote work has declined in the past year.
- In Q1 2023, 45% of the total jobs were Remote, which has since declined to 34% in Q4 2024. Remember that these remote jobs are mostly restricted within the country — for 2024, a staggering 97.9% of the total remote jobs require the employee to work within the country.
- Remote jobs have declined by 7% since the last two quarters of 2024, and it seems unlikely they will rebound in 2025.
- Hybrid is to the rescue, but not for long.
- In 2023, on average, 21% of the Kubernetes jobs were Hybrid, while in 2024, the metric has increased to 29%.
- However, from Q3 to Q4 of 2024, there has been a slight decline of 5% in hybrid jobs. Looking at the current stand of major corporations to end hybrid work, we are unsure if this decline will subside.
- In-office jobs may see a revival in 2025.
- In-office jobs were consistent from Q1 2023 until about Q2 2024, averaging 29% between the quarters.
- However, in the last two quarters of 2024, these jobs have seen a resurgent increase of 11%. This re-emergence may continue into 2025 since, lately companies are calling their employees back to the Office.
Hybrid Jobs Pay a Minimum Salary of $132,288 Per Annum
For 2024, Hybrid jobs paid a minimum average salary of $132,288 and a maximum average of $188,568, taking the mean average salary to $160,428.
Things get interesting if we compare the average salaries across working modes!
The key insights here are:
- For average minimum salaries, Hybrid jobs pay $132,288, which is 7% higher than Remote jobs, and 4% higher than In-Office jobs.
- For maximum average salaries, In-Office jobs offer $191,475, which is 5% and 1.4% higher than Remote and Hybrid jobs. This difference makes sense since most high-paying jobs will be at the senior level and, hence, more in-office.
- Regarding the average salary, the order is Hybrid > In-Office > Remote with $160,428 > $158,735.5 > $151,029.
In all, it can be said that Hybrid jobs paid the highest average salaries across working modes in 2024.
Surprisingly, the Most Hybrid-Friendly Positions Were Machine Learning Engineer, Head of Platform Engineering, and Data Engineer
Here are the stats for the most hybrid-friendly job titles:
- 41.6% of all Machine Learning Engineer positions offer hybrid work, 38% offer remote work, and 19.9% are In-Office.
- What’s surprising to see is Head of Platform Engineering is the second most hybrid-friendly role with 35.1% of these offering hybrid working.
- The order then is Data Engineer > Engineering Manager > Head of Engineering > Software Architect with 33.7% > 33.5% > 33.3% > 32.35%.
Summary
- Throughout all the quarters of 2024, Hybrid jobs have averaged at least 27-30% while also paying the highest average salaries among the working modes.
- However, the Forecast suggests Remote and Hybrid jobs may decline by 5-10% in 2025 while In-Office jobs may increase by the same margin.
The post Kubernetes Job Market Surges: Hybrid Roles Take the Lead With $160K Average Salary appeared first on The New Stack.
