Red Hat planning 500-job hiring spree as demand for edge computing grows

Red Hat, the Raleigh-based open source software maker, is expecting a lot of growth to come from its growing edge computing business in the coming years, which means the company is planning a hiring spree of more than 500 employees.

Edge computing refers to the deployment of small computers that allow remote devices to crunch large amounts of data without relying on connections to larger computers elsewhere.

The small but powerful computers are seen as key to a future where millions of devices are connected to the internet and collecting data, from sensors in factories to millions of vehicles. Deploying edge computers can lessen response times and reduce bandwidth.

Mike McGrath, Red Hat’s Chicago-based vice president of software engineering, said a lot of the edge computing demand is coming from automotive and telecommunications companies, especially as 5G wireless networks are built out.

“The key thing for people to understand is that the cars, devices and things of the future that companies are building, they look a lot more like (computer) servers on the inside than they used to,” McGrath said in a video interview with The News & Observer. “And that is Red Hat’s bread and butter.”

Red Hat said the 500 new employees will be added this year, and hiring will be mainly focused in Raleigh and Boston.

But many of the new employees could be remote workers. McGrath noted around a third of Red Hatters work remotely, and the company will continue to embrace a hybrid work model.

The roles will be split between engineering, marketing and content strategy, though most will be in engineering, McGrath said.

In recent weeks, some within the Triangle’s tech scene have raised concerns about competition over software and computer engineers, especially as Google and Apple plan to hire thousands in the region.

McGrath said Red Hat hasn’t noticed a talent crunch yet — though its hiring is not just limited to the Triangle.

“I don’t think it has been harder to find engineers, he said. “I think we’ve been more thoughtful about where we look for them, in terms of partnering with universities and things like that.

“But generally, from a high point of view, I haven’t really noticed a big difference in terms of jobs staying open longer or anything. Plenty of jobs are open and plenty of people are applying for them.”

This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate