10K Advisors Releases Second Annual Salesforce Talent Ecosystem Report

Newest Research Shows Strong YoY Growth in Salesforce Talent Supply, Especially in Emerging Markets, Admin Roles, and among Mid-Sized Partners; Disappointing Progress in Gender Diversity

 Louisville, KY – Nov 5, 2019 10K Advisors today released its second annual Salesforce Talent Ecosystem report, analyzing the trends and statistics that are impacting a growing number of people around the world who provide or need Salesforce-related skills. This report builds on last Fall’s research report which highlighted the imbalance between talent supply and demand, especially in highly technical roles.  This year 10K’s research dives into which Salesforce skills are most in-demand and the year-over-year changes in talent supply, gender diversity and the AppExchange partner ecosystem. 

Findings include:

– The Salesforce talent supply has increased substantially year-over-year (YoY), growing 151% across all the roles and regions analyzed. Growth was substantially higher in emerging markets, with talent in Africa and South America growing more than 250%. However, emerging markets still only account for 7% of global talent.  

– North America holds 50% of all global Salesforce talent with 64% of all admins and 49% of all technical architects. India has the highest number of developers of any region, making up 39% of global developer talent.

– Salesforce-related admin and developer profiles grew the most YoY, with admin profiles seeing the highest growth rate of any role worldwide at 236% YoY. 

– The demand for Salesforce talent is still high with the largest number of job openings for consultants and developers. Supply/demand ratios are still highest for technical architects, where the number of job openings outpace available talent 6 to 1. 

– Skills for the most mature Salesforce Clouds (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Community Cloud) are still the most in-demand, however, specialized skills like AI and CPQ are seen as the hardest to find and retain especially for senior-level talent.

– Customers are willing to outsource or subcontract nearly every skill or role, but integration and development are the most likely skills to be handled externally. 

– The number of service providers on Salesforce AppExchange grew 23% YoY to more than 1,260 firms, with the largest growth in the mid-market. The number of partners with 101-500 experts grew 71% YoY, and those with 21-50 certified experts grew 58% YoY.

– The largest consulting partners still hold the majority of certified talent, with one-third of all certified consulting experts at the top 2% of partners. However, talent concentration within Salesforce’s top 30 partners is beginning to disperse to mid-size and smaller firms (decreasing 5% YoY).

10K’s Salesforce Talent Ecosystem research also provides an update on gender diversity within key roles, a big focus for Salesforce and its partners. While Salesforce is given top grades for its efforts to increase ecosystem diversity, gender diversity within higher-paying technical roles is getting worse in most regions, not better.

More details on these trends can be found by downloading the full report here. 

“These growth numbers show the Salesforce Economy has most definitely taken hold, already providing lucrative career opportunities and new revenue streams to hundreds of thousands of people around the world,” said Nick Hamm, CEO of 10K Advisors. “Salesforce’s recent IDC report indicates the Salesforce ecosystem will create more than a trillion dollars in new business revenue and 4.2 million jobs between 2019 and 2024. Our own analysis shows these aren’t empty projections. It also highlights why everyone in the ecosystem, not just Salesforce, needs to make sure job and revenue opportunities are open to everyone regardless of gender, background or personal preference.”

Data within the report was sourced from an in-depth analysis of profiles and postings on LinkedIn, GlassDoor, Indeed and Salesforce AppExchange, combined with a survey of 200+ Salesforce customers, integrators, ISVs and independent contractors (primarily based in North America, India and Europe). LinkedIn, which has 660M members in 200 countries, was the source for analyzing talent supply in established markets (North America & Mexico, Europe, India and Australia/New Zealand) and emerging markets (South America, China, Africa and the rest of Asia (not including China and India)). 

Resources

Read Nick Hamm’s blog for more commentary on the findings

Read IDC’s report on “The Salesforce Economic Impact”

Follow 10K Advisors on LinkedIn

Join the conversation on Twitter (#SalesforceTalent)

 About 10K Advisors

10K Advisors provides Salesforce customers and partners with on-demand access to proven talent. Whether you are looking for extra capacity for internal teams, specialized skills that have been vetted, or complete program oversight, 10K’s community of 400+ architects, developers, analysts, admins and platform specialists can help. 10K’s unique model is flexible, transparent, easy to manage and delivers results without the headaches and over-promises companies often experience with traditional technology consultancies. 

Share this:

Sign up to receive Salesforce-related news