Want to work in a tech company? You don't need to know how to code

You don’t need to know Python to work at Amazon. In today’s job market, technology companies are increasingly seeking employees without technical backgrounds.

More than 4 in 10 tech jobs are nontechnical, according to a new report from Glassdoor. And while 57 per cent of open positions require technical skills such as C++ or Java, that number varies internally from company to company. 

Glassdoor gathered data from millions of online job postings from technology companies in the US to look at the breakdown of roles. Technical roles were defined as requiring knowledge of code, software or data.

The majority of job postings at Workday, Salesforce.com, Verizon Communications and International Business Machines are for nontechnical roles, according to the report. Others are seeking a more balanced workforce. Uber Technologies Inc’s listings show a 50-50 split of technical to nontechnical roles.

“As tech companies grow, so do the types of workers they need to help round out their business,” wrote Amanda Stansell, the Glassdoor research analyst who conducted the study, in an email. “These companies not only need software engineers and data scientists but also sales managers to sell the product, project managers to oversee project workflows and HR to oversee the day-to-day well-being of company employees.”

Walmart eCommerce, Microsoft, Intel and Amazon are seeking the highest percentage of prospective employees with coding skills, according to Glassdoor. More than 70 per cent of Amazon.com’s job postings require a technical background. Technical roles  tend to boast higher average salaries, ranging from $80,000 to $120,000. Nontechnical roles pay less, with most salaries falling between $50,000 and $90,000.

“The reality is that the need for tech skills is not going away,” Stansell said. “We’ll not only continue to see demand for workers with tech skills, but traditionally non-technology roles will need basic technical knowledge such as skills in basic HTML or data analysis.”