I’m looking for a fully remote position and I’m wondering about the trend of AWS vs Azure in the remote job market. Do most remote-first startups prefer AWS, or is Azure becoming more common as established corporations embrace work-from-home policies across the country?
3 answers
If your goal is strictly remote work, the AWS vs Azure debate leans toward AWS. This is because the startup ecosystem in the US, which is the biggest driver of remote-first culture, is overwhelmingly built on AWS. Startups value the speed and flexibility of AWS services. However, don't discount Azure. Many large financial and insurance firms in the US are now allowing hybrid or fully remote work for their cloud teams, and they are almost exclusively Azure shops. My advice would be to look at the industries you are interested in first; tech/SaaS equals AWS, while finance/healthcare equals Azure.
Have you noticed if job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed show a specific regional preference for AWS vs Azure in their remote listings?
I found my current remote job as an Azure Administrator through a recruiter in Chicago. They specifically mentioned the AWS vs Azure shortage of talent for Microsoft-based clouds.
Cynthia, that’s exactly why I’m leaning toward Azure. There seems to be a lot of AWS pros out there, but finding a deep Azure expert is much harder for companies.
Marcus, I've seen that remote listings often don't care about your location, but they do care about your time zone. Interestingly, many West Coast firms hiring remotely still lean toward AWS, while East Coast remote roles have a higher concentration of Azure requirements.