Cloud & DevOps Salary Guide 2026

2025 was a year of relative stability for Cloud and Platform Engineering, with momentum building noticeably in Q4 as confidence in global markets returned. This means there is now a greater willingness from Irish employers to invest in infrastructure and platform modernisation, setting up 2026 for a year of steady growth rather than dramatic expansion.

Working conditions also stabilised into hybrid models, with fully remote work now rarer than in previous years. Although a handful of large employers continue to push for five days onsite, most organisations recognise the value of flexibility – particularly in Cloud and DevOps roles where on-call responsibilities are common. An increasing number of firms now allow staff to work abroad for limited periods each year, reflecting broader expectations around mobility and flexibility.

Employers are placing greater value on professionals with crossplatform expertise, as multinational organisations often require teams to manage processes across multiple providers – AWS in one location, GCP in another, and Azure elsewhere. Kubernetes expertise remains the baseline requirement across seniority levels, while Terraform continues
to dominate as the preferred infrastructure-as-code tool. With cloud migrations ongoing and hybrid strategies firmly embedded, hiring demand in 2026 is expected to remain strong, with salaries likely to track inflation, and multi-cloud fluency will distinguish the most sought-after candidates.

2026 Forecast

• Hiring demand: Projected growth of 8–10%, reflecting continued cloud-first adoption and platform modernisation.
• Hybrid work: Around 80% of roles to remain hybrid, with limited fully remote options.
• Skills in demand: Kubernetes proficiency remains universal; Terraform continues as the dominant IaC tool. Cross-platform expertise (AWS, GCP, Azure) is increasingly a differentiator.
• Salaries & rates: Forecast to grow at 3–5%, in line with inflation

If you have any queries in regards to the salary survey or anything cloud and devops recruitment related, contact Ruadhri on +353 1 507 9264 or email ruadhri.mcgarry@itsearch.ie.