We know that Salesforce professionals tend to be avid learners, so it is no surprise that 82% hold a Salesforce certification, and 83% of certified respondents consider that they make you a more valuable candidate. In fact, 95% of those surveyed use Salesforce Trailhead to upskill. And if you still need convincing on the value of certs; on average, those who reported a pay increase post-certification received an additional 18% in their take-home pay.

But salary isn’t everything, and our stats help to paint the bigger picture. Among the permanently employed professionals we surveyed, 90% told us that salary aside, workplace benefits are important when deciding whether to accept a job offer. A monetary bonus and homeworking are the top two perks most likely to entice a candidate into a new role.

Spotlighting freelance life, our survey tells us that 43% of contractors work for just one client, and the average contract lasts six months and two weeks. Notably, 67% cite finding new contracts and customers as the major issue they face, but don’t worry, as we have advice on navigating this very problem!

Now, we move on to a topic that continues to dominate conversations in the ecosystem. Among the 48% of hiring managers who believe there is an IT skills gap, they highlight the time it takes to find the right talent as the main challenge they face when tackling a skills shortage in their team. Moreover, 69% of organizations impacted by this skills divide are witnessing increased employee turnover.

Lastly, let’s focus on what businesses do around equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Disappointingly, only 67% of organizations have invested resources into their EDI initiatives, down from 75% in our previous study. And only 55% of employees believe their employer is providing equal pay for equal work. We explore these findings and what they mean later in the guide, so keep reading.

I hope these statistics have piqued your interest! A huge thank you to everyone who completed our survey, as YOU make this report possible every year. Congratulations to our prize draw winners: Solution Architect Susan Connor, PhD; Chris Leska, Director of Business Systems; and our final anonymous winner.

Our survey will return next year, so look out for your chance to shape discussions in the Salesforce community. In the meantime, stay up to date with all the latest happenings in the ecosystem by bookmarking our blog and joining 66k people who already follow us on LinkedIn.

Until next time,

Zoë