If you’re a CTO or HR lead at a Pakistani software house, you already know the frustration: you post a cloud engineer position and get either zero qualified applicants or resumes from candidates who’ve watched a few YouTube tutorials and call themselves “AWS certified.” The P@SHA 2025 Cloud Skills Survey just quantified what we’ve all been feeling—Pakistan’s cloud talent shortage isn’t just bad, it’s getting worse. And it’s costing software houses millions in lost contracts, delayed projects, and salary inflation.

What the 2025 P@SHA Report Really Says

The P@SHA 2025 Cloud Skills Survey represents the most comprehensive analysis of Pakistan’s IT talent landscape to date, surveying hundreds of software houses across Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and emerging tech hubs. The findings are sobering for anyone trying to scale cloud operations.

Cloud computing emerges as the single largest skills gap category, with 32,685 open positions reported across the industry. That’s not a typo—over thirty-two thousand unfilled cloud roles in Pakistani software houses alone. These aren’t just entry-level positions either. The shortage spans every level from junior cloud engineers to senior architects and specialized roles like cloud security engineers and FinOps analysts.

What makes this shortage particularly challenging is its acceleration rate. The 2023 P@SHA survey reported roughly 18,000 cloud-related vacancies. In just two years, that number has nearly doubled. Meanwhile, the number of qualified candidates entering the market has grown by only about 15%. Simple math tells you we’re heading toward a crisis.

The report breaks down the shortage by specialization, revealing that DevOps engineers, multi-cloud architects, and cloud security specialists face the most severe gaps. Some software houses report spending 6-9 months trying to fill senior cloud positions, ultimately settling for less qualified candidates or outsourcing critical work at premium rates.

Salary data from the survey shows the inevitable result of supply-demand imbalance. Cloud-certified professionals with 2-3 years of experience now command salaries that previously required 5-6 years in traditional IT roles. Senior cloud architects are seeing compensation packages that rival or exceed what general managers earned just five years ago.

For software houses competing for international contracts, this shortage has real business consequences. Clients increasingly require specific cloud certifications and proven expertise before awarding projects. Without qualified cloud talent, Pakistani companies lose opportunities to competitors in India, Bangladesh, and Eastern Europe who’ve invested more aggressively in cloud skills development.

Top Five Cloud Roles in Critical Shortage

The P@SHA report identifies specific roles where demand far exceeds supply, creating the most acute hiring challenges for Pakistani software houses.

Role	Open Positions	Median Salary (PKR/month)	Sherdil Solution
DevOps Engineer	8,500	150,000	DevOps Bootcamp
Cloud Solutions Architect	6,200	200,000	Multi-cloud Certification Program
AWS Engineer/Administrator	7,800	130,000	AWS 3-in-1 Program
Azure Administrator	5,100	125,000	Azure Administrator track
Cloud Security Specialist	3,400	180,000	Multi-cloud + Security Focus
Total Critical Shortage	31,000

DevOps Engineers top the shortage list because they bridge development and operations—a skillset that requires both coding proficiency and infrastructure expertise. Most computer science graduates lack the operational knowledge, while traditional IT operations staff often struggle with modern development practices. The result: massive demand for professionals who understand both worlds.

Cloud Solutions Architects face even higher barriers to entry. This role requires not just technical skills but the ability to design cost-effective, scalable, secure architectures that meet business requirements. Most candidates can configure individual services but struggle with holistic system design, vendor selection, and cost optimization—exactly what clients pay premium rates for.

AWS Engineers remain the most requested specific platform skill, reflecting Amazon’s dominance in the global cloud market. International clients particularly demand AWS expertise, making it essential for software houses serving overseas markets. The challenge: AWS’s vast service catalog means truly competent AWS engineers need exposure to dozens of services across compute, storage, databases, networking, security, and emerging technologies like machine learning and serverless.

Azure Administrators see growing demand as enterprises with existing Microsoft infrastructure migrate to cloud. Pakistani software houses working with corporate clients in finance, healthcare, and government find Azure skills increasingly necessary for winning and executing projects.

Cloud Security Specialists represent the smallest but fastest-growing shortage. As cloud adoption accelerates, so do security concerns. Organizations need professionals who understand cloud-native security tools, compliance frameworks, identity management, and threat detection—a combination of skills that’s extremely rare in the Pakistani market.

Why the Gap Persists: Five Root Causes

Understanding why Pakistan’s cloud skills shortage continues worsening despite high salaries and obvious demand requires examining systemic issues in our education and training ecosystem.

Outdated University Curricula: Pakistani computer science programs largely teach cloud computing as optional electives, if at all. Most graduates leave university having never provisioned a virtual machine, configured a database in the cloud, or understood basic concepts like auto-scaling or serverless computing. The gap between academic preparation and industry requirements has never been wider.

Low Training Completion Rates: As we’ve documented elsewhere, traditional online cloud courses see 90-95% dropout rates. Self-paced learning without accountability, mentorship, or hands-on labs fails most learners. The few who complete courses often lack the practical experience to perform effectively in real jobs.

Certification Barriers: Cloud certification exams intimidate Pakistani IT professionals. The exams are in English, use unfamiliar question formats, and require specific test-taking strategies beyond technical knowledge. Many competent engineers fail certifications multiple times, becoming discouraged and abandoning cloud career paths entirely.

Brain Drain to Remote Work: Qualified cloud engineers increasingly work directly for international companies as remote employees, earning in dollars or euros. Pakistani software houses struggle to compete with compensation packages from US or European employers. This dynamic drains the most skilled professionals from the local market.

Chicken-and-Egg Project Experience: Entry-level candidates can’t get hired without project experience, but can’t gain project experience without being hired. Most Pakistani software houses lack the bandwidth to invest months training junior cloud engineers, preferring to hire experienced professionals—who don’t exist in sufficient numbers.

These interconnected challenges create a vicious cycle. Universities don’t teach relevant skills, training programs fail most learners, certifications intimidate candidates, experienced professionals leave for remote work, and companies can’t justify training juniors. Breaking this cycle requires coordinated intervention across multiple fronts.

Case Spotlight: What Industry Leaders Are Saying

Pakistani software house executives aren’t staying quiet about the skills crisis. Their public statements reveal both the severity of the challenge and potential paths forward.

A recent industry roundtable discussion highlighted how the shortage affects different types of software houses. Large established firms report delaying project timelines by 3-6 months due to staffing constraints, while smaller companies lose bids entirely because they can’t demonstrate required cloud expertise to international clients.

Mid-sized software houses describe offering 30-40% salary increases to poach cloud talent from competitors, only to lose those same employees to remote positions with overseas companies a few months later. This turnover disrupts project continuity and demoralizes teams.

Some forward-thinking companies have started building internal cloud training programs, partnering with experienced architects to mentor junior engineers. However, these initiatives require significant time investment—typically 6-12 months before trainees contribute productively to billable projects. Smaller software houses lack the resources for such long-term development approaches.

The consensus among industry leaders: Pakistan’s cloud skills shortage won’t solve itself through market forces alone. Coordinated action combining improved training infrastructure, industry-academia collaboration, and retention strategies becomes essential for the sector’s continued growth.

Action Plan for Learning & Development Managers

If you’re responsible for building cloud capabilities in your software house, here’s a practical framework for addressing the skills gap systematically.

Audit Current Capabilities: Start by honestly assessing your team’s actual cloud skills, not just what resumes claim. Conduct hands-on assessments where engineers provision infrastructure, troubleshoot problems, and explain architectural decisions. Most teams discover their cloud expertise is shallower than assumed.

Identify Critical Skill Gaps: Based on your project pipeline and client requirements, determine which cloud skills you absolutely need in the next 6-12 months. Prioritize ruthlessly—you can’t train everyone in everything. Focus on skills that directly enable revenue-generating projects.

Build or Buy Talent: Decide which roles you’ll develop internally through training versus hiring externally. Generally, train motivated mid-level engineers for cloud roles while hiring experienced architects who can mentor your team. Trying to train everyone from scratch takes too long.

Partner with Quality Training Providers: Self-study doesn’t work for most engineers. Invest in structured programs offering cohort learning, live instruction, hands-on labs, and career support. The cost of quality training (typically 50,000-100,000 PKR per person) is negligible compared to the cost of unfilled positions or failed projects.

Create Internal Cloud Champions: Identify your most technically curious engineers and invest heavily in their cloud development. These champions can then mentor others, review architectures, and establish internal best practices. Building internal expertise compounds over time.

Implement Retention Strategies: Once you’ve developed cloud expertise, you must retain it. This means competitive compensation, interesting technical challenges, career advancement paths, and work flexibility. Remember that your newly certified engineers will receive multiple offers—make sure staying with you remains attractive.

Measure Training ROI: Track metrics like time-to-productivity for trained engineers, project wins enabled by new capabilities, certification pass rates, and retention of trained staff. Demonstrating ROI justifies continued L&D investment to leadership.

How Sherdil Programs Map to Industry Needs

The P@SHA report’s identified shortages align precisely with comprehensive training programs designed for Pakistani IT professionals seeking cloud expertise.

For the 8,500 DevOps engineer vacancies, the DevOps Bootcamp provides end-to-end training covering CI/CD pipelines, containerization, Kubernetes orchestration, infrastructure as code, and monitoring—the exact skillset software houses require for modern development workflows.

The 6,200 cloud solutions architect positions demand multi-cloud expertise that vendor-specific training can’t provide. The Multi-cloud Certification Program develops platform-agnostic skills, enabling architects to design solutions across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud based on business requirements rather than vendor lock-in.

AWS’s 7,800 open positions require comprehensive platform knowledge beyond basic certification. The AWS 3-in-1 Program combines Solutions Architect, Developer, and SysOps certifications, creating professionals who understand AWS holistically rather than superficially.

Azure’s 5,100 vacancies increasingly require both administration and architecture skills. The Azure Administrator track builds from fundamentals through advanced implementation, preparing engineers for real-world enterprise Azure deployments.

For organizations requiring Google Cloud expertise, the GCP 2-in-1 Program provides targeted training for teams working with Google’s cloud platform, particularly valuable for companies in data analytics and machine learning spaces.

The common thread across these programs: cohort-based learning with live instruction, hands-on labs with real cloud environments, exam preparation that addresses Pakistani learners’ specific challenges, and career services that connect trained professionals with hiring companies.

30-Day Hiring and Training Checklist

For L&D managers ready to take action immediately, here’s a practical 30-day implementation plan:

Days 1-7: Assessment and Planning

• Conduct skills assessment of current engineering team
• Review upcoming project pipeline and required cloud expertise
• Calculate cost of current vacancies (lost contracts, delayed projects, overtime)
• Identify 5-10 engineers suitable for cloud upskilling based on aptitude and motivation
• Set specific hiring targets for critical cloud roles

Days 8-14: Vendor Selection and Budgeting

• Research training providers offering cohort programs, not just online courses
• Schedule meetings with training advisors to discuss custom corporate programs
• Obtain detailed proposals including curriculum, timeline, certification support
• Present business case to leadership: training investment vs. opportunity cost of skills gap
• Secure budget approval for both training and retention bonuses

Days 15-21: Program Launch

• Enroll selected engineers in appropriate cloud certification programs
• Establish internal mentorship pairing junior learners with senior engineers
• Create protected study time within work schedules (minimum 10 hours weekly)
• Set up hands-on lab environments for practice outside structured training
• Communicate program expectations and success metrics to participants

Days 22-30: Parallel Hiring Initiatives

• Post updated job descriptions emphasizing training and growth opportunities
• Engage recruiters specializing in cloud talent with realistic candidate profiles
• Leverage LinkedIn and local tech communities for direct sourcing
• Consider contract-to-hire arrangements for candidates with some but incomplete skills
• Review compensation packages ensuring competitiveness with market rates

The key is parallel action: develop internal talent while simultaneously recruiting externally. Relying solely on either approach leaves you understaffed for too long.

Taking Action on Pakistan’s Cloud Skills Crisis

The P@SHA 2025 Cloud Skills Report makes one thing abundantly clear: Pakistan’s cloud talent shortage represents a fundamental constraint on our IT industry’s growth potential. Software houses that address this challenge strategically will thrive, while those hoping the market corrects itself risk irrelevance.

The good news? Unlike infrastructure or policy challenges, skills gaps have straightforward solutions. Invest in quality training, create supportive learning environments, retain developed talent, and repeat. Companies implementing systematic L&D strategies are already pulling ahead of competitors still relying on ad-hoc hiring.

Your next move matters. Every month you delay addressing cloud skills gaps costs your company in lost contracts, missed deadlines, and demoralized teams. The 32,685 vacancies identified in the P@SHA report won’t fill themselves.

Ready to transform your team’s cloud capabilities? Contact our training advisors to discuss corporate training programs tailored to your software house’s specific needs. Prefer an in-person consultation? Visit our Karachi campus to meet our team and review program options.