Get relevant information about how to hire DevOps talent faster, smarter, and at the right cost.
What You’ll Learn
A DevOps skills shortage is a major challenge for 33% of organizations that rely on continuous delivery and cloud infrastructure. They cannot source qualified engineers fast enough to meet demand and eventually fall behind competitors. To help tech businesses navigate this challenge effectively, Qubit Labs has prepared an in-depth report that serves as your go-to guide to top hiring locations, in-demand skills, and realistic salary trends—helping you build the right team in the country of your choice.
Most of the top countries for DevOps engineers are in Eastern Europe; the salary range for most roles is $48,000 to $74,400. South Africa is a popular destination with a salary range of $60,000 to $84,000.
2026 DevOps Talent and Salary Report Insights
- Market snapshots
Comprehensive overviews of the eight top markets for securing top DevOps engineers. - DevOps talent insights
Regional analysis of talent pools, skills, and certifications. - Salary comparisons
Salary data of real market rates for junior, middle, and senior specialists. - Compensation benchmarking across five roles
Relevant salary information for DevOps, AIOps, DevOps AWS, DevOps Azure, and MLOps specialists.
Who It’s For
- CTOs who focus on team expansion and create a credible hiring plan.
- HR leaders who want to set competitive offers and identify top hiring locations.
- Startups that want to build dedicated DevOps teams quickly and efficiently.
- Investors who want to get a clear view of DevOps talent costs across key global markets for efficient hiring.
Message from the CEO
“This report provides actionable information on location data, talent availability, and budget insights tech companies need to build a high-performing DevOps team and stay ahead of the curve.”
Iva Kozlovska, CEO of Qubit Labs
Key Findings
These are just a few of the exclusive insights you’ll find in our report.
Regional Overview
The DevOps talent landscape in Eastern Europe and South Africa is both vast and diverse. Eastern Europe boasts a large talent pool, with engineers skilled in Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, Terraform, Python, and CI/CD. Thanks to the abundance of providers, companies can typically hire top developers in just 35 days. In contrast, South Africa’s talent pool is smaller, but developers have deep expertise in Python, Bash, Azure, AWS, and Terraform.
Cost Highlights
We identified five in-demand DevOps roles, with DevOps and MLOps engineers leading in popularity worldwide. In Eastern Europe, Poland stands out as the top IT outsourcing destination, offering the largest talent pool and mature industry—but its rates are the highest in the region. Bulgaria provides a more cost-effective alternative, with DevOps salaries approximately 18% lower than in Poland. In South Africa, DevOps salaries match those in Poland at $66,000, while MLOps specialists earn about 13% more. For budget-conscious projects or those requiring rapid scalability, hiring DevOps talent in Eastern Europe is the smarter choice.
Relevant market comparisons
Valuable insights into the tech sector, talent pools, top skills, and certifications help companies analyze talent availability and choose the best market.
Accurate salary data
Role-specific rates across eight hiring locations help businesses make the right hiring and retention decisions backed by real market numbers.
Strategic hiring data
Insights into regional tech talent and the hiring landscape help businesses compare top locations efficiently and choose the one with the best talent and value.
Full role coverage
Compensation trends for five key DevOps roles from junior to senior levels help firms make informed hiring, budgeting, and workforce planning decisions.
Get the report that makes every hiring decision faster, smarter, and more cost-efficient.
Get Your Free Copy Now
