Demand for IT professionals with strong Linux skills will surge as a result of Google's upcoming release of the Chrome operating system, according to recruitment agency CV Screen.
Chrome OS, which will be built on the open-source Linux kernel, is expected to be launch in the second half of 2010.
Google has already said in a blog post that it is hiring Linux software engineers. CV Screen expects Chrome will help to sustain the demand for IT professionals with experience of open source technologies.
Open source developer jobs have been more robust in the current downturn compared to the rest of the IT industry, according to CV Screen's job index. The index shows that whereas the number of IT Jobs has dropped by over 55% over the last 12 months, the number of Linux Jobs has dropped by only 30% over the same period.
"In what has been a tough marketplace, we have seen demand for OpenSource technologies such as PHP, Linux and MySQL hold up fairly well and it is one area where we have been regularly placing candidates," said Matthew Iveson, director of specialist IT recruitment at CV Screen.
"We anticipate that the long term impact will be an increased demand for IT professionals who are required to support Linux based systems. This is likely to mean that Linux professionals with qualifications such as LCP, LCE or RHCE will be much sought after by employers."