As I continue to read about the future of Salesforce job growth and the recent headlines on training more Americans to earn Salesforce credentials, I’m having difficulty understanding how this is going to work out.

I’ll be the first to admit to drinking the Salesforce Kool-aid on the future economical impact that will be made long term, and I’ll continue to think of ways to encourage others to go after their Salesforce career aspirations, but would also like to analyze where we are and where we’re going.

Let’s recap some of the numbers:

• According to the IDC*, Salesforce and its ecosystem or partners will generate 3.3. million new jobs by 2022
• More than 300,000 job postings ask directly for Salesforce skills*
• Salesforce pledges to give 500,000 Americans (or I think it’s now 1,000,000) the skills they need to earn Salesforce credentials and get top jobs in the Salesforce ecosystem**
• 1.4 Million learners around the world are transforming their careers and lives through Trailhead**
• Salesforce offers training and re-skilling opportunities through programs like: Futureforce, Vetforce, Pathfinder**

In all these headlines, where are ENTRY-LEVEL positions being discussed?

Entry-level are the majority of the types of applicants that are enrolling in these programs that have no prior CRM, Database, Programming or Business Analyst backgrounds (Veterans, Career Changers, Under-employed, Non-IT College Graduates, etc.).

In doing some additional research:

• On the Salesforce website (https://salesforce.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External_Career_Site) they have 1954 open positions, 18 show internships, about 22 came up with my search of entry level (of those 22, many didn’t really seem like tech positions).
• On the Vetforce website (https://veterans.force.com/VetforceEmployerPartners) they have a list of employer partners, so I took a sample set:

Searched by “Entry Level and Salesforce”

• Accenture: 149 total, 6 entry level
• Dell: 188 total, 42 entry level (all Sales related, not Admins or Devs)
• Deloitte: 122 total , 3 jobs titled Intern or Student
• PWC: 9 total, 0 entry level
• Simplus: 4 total, they have a Bootcamper program in Salt Lake City, not sure how many can enroll or if it guarantees a job afterwards
• Slalom: 125 total, all look to be at least 2 years experience needed

I then searched some of the biggest company’s on the Fortune 500:

• Walmart: 12 total, 0 entry level
• Exxon: 0 total
• Apple: 7, 0 entry level
• Amazon: 451, most seem experienced only
• Facebook: 37, 0 seem to be entry level

Switching directions to a generic search on LinkedIn for Salesforce jobs, it’s hard to get a read on the number, as most employers are classifying their positions as entry level, but all the random sampling I did shows at least 2 years prior experience.

Let’s just say there are 50-100 entry level Salesforce positions floating around somewhere and I’m not looking in the right places or my sample set is completely off the mark, my understanding there are many more coming out of these training programs (or taking their own direction to switch careers) to find Salesforce work,

Where are they all expected to go?

Something seems out of balance, or maybe I just need to work on my journalism skills.

References:

* IDC White Paper sponsored by Salesforce, written October 2017

** Investor.Salesforce.com Press Release, May 16, 2019