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Career Spotlights

Azure Cloud Engineer

Career Spotlights

Azure Cloud Engineer

How much do Azure Cloud Engineers make?

Junior (0-3 years) Mid-level (4-8 years) Senior (9+ years) Freelance
United States ($) 122,000 151,500 175,750 96-145 (p/h)
United Kingdom (£) 51,750 74,250 95,750 500-640 (p/d)
Germany (€) 59,750 71,250 86,500 80-120 (p/h)
Switzerland (Fr) 108,250 122,000 140,000 120-175 (p/h)
* Survey responses in the remainder of this chapter are indicative only due to a limited number of Azure Cloud Engineers participating in the survey.
United States ($)
122,000
United Kingdom (£)
51,750
Germany (€)
59,750
Switzerland (Fr)
108,250
United States ($)
151,500
United Kingdom (£)
74,250
Germany (€)
71,250
Switzerland (Fr)
122,000
United States ($)
175,750
United Kingdom (£)
95,750
Germany (€)
86,500
Switzerland (Fr)
140,000
United States ($)
96-145 (p/h)
United Kingdom (£)
500-640 (p/d)
Germany (€)
80-120 (p/h)
Switzerland (Fr)
120-175 (p/h)
* Survey responses in the remainder of this chapter are indicative only due to a limited number of Azure Cloud Engineers participating in the survey.

50%

of Azure Cloud Engineers are satisfied with their job, down from 71% in our previous study

15%

of Azure Cloud Engineers are satisfied with their salary, down from 59% in our last survey, although 35% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

45 hours

Permanent Azure Cloud Engineers work an average of 45 hours per week*

*Too few freelance Developers took part in the survey to be able to provide accurate data on their working hours

What factors impact your earning potential as an Azure Cloud Engineer?

We asked current Azure professionals what factors are most important for upping your earning potential in that role.
Important Neutral Unimportant
Exposure to large projects 96% 4% 0%
Years of technical experience with Microsoft products 92% 8% 0%
Years of experience in IT 80% 20% 0%
Specific vertical industry experience 72% 28% 0%
Microsoft certifications 64% 28% 8%
College/University degree(s) 48% 32% 20%
Important Neutral Unimportant
96% 4% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
92% 8% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
80% 20% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
72% 28% 0%
Important Neutral Unimportant
64% 28% 8%
Important Neutral Unimportant
48% 32% 20%

What steps should you take to become an Azure Cloud Engineer?

Education

Three quarters (75%) of Azure Cloud Engineers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. However, only 18% consider a degree to be important to work with Microsoft Cloud, while 48% believe a degree to be an important factor when it comes to increasing earning potential.

What Microsoft certifications do Azure Cloud Engineers hold?

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate 59%
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert 41%
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals 35%
Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals 18%
Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty, Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert, Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate 12%

Certification

Over two-thirds (68%, up 1% from our previous survey) of Azure Cloud Engineers are certified and 53% of those have undergone certification renewal to maintain their Microsoft Certified status. Meanwhile, 82% (down from 86%) believe that certifications help make you a more valuable professional.

If you’re just starting out on your cloud engineer journey, then the Azure Fundamentals, Azure Data Fundamentals, and/or Azure AI Fundamentals are all good places to start.

When you’re ready to take the next step on your certification journey, there are a handful of certifications geared specifically towards cloud engineers: Azure Network Engineer Associate, Azure Security Engineer Associate, and Azure Data Engineer Associate.

The cloud engineer certification path culminates with the DevOps Engineer Expert badge; one of only two top-level certifications currently available for Azure professionals.

Roles that can lead to becoming an Azure Cloud Engineer

There’s no predetermined path that is guaranteed to lead you to a role as an Azure Cloud Engineer, but given the role’s highly technical nature, having previous experience in a role related to cloud infrastructure will give you a good head-start.

Such roles include, but are not limited to:

What skills and experience should Azure Cloud Engineers have?

What are the opportunities for progression?

Are you looking to hire a Microsoft Azure professional?

Want the highlights from this year's Careers and Hiring Guide at a glance? Our key findings report contains our top level insight and salary tables, so you can compare your own salary or benchmark your teams' across the Microsoft ecosystem.