Note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of WRAL Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The increasing popularity of “cloud computing” means more jobs at Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the company’s chief executive officer says.

Unfortunately, more jobs at Red Hat means other companies aren’t hiring because the cloud – the sharing of computing and server power on a demand basis – means enterprises utilizing cloud services don’t need to hire as many information technology workers or buy as much equipment.

Red Hat’s growth in the cloud market recently triggered a Wall Street analyst to say the Hatters were winning the market segment. (Read more here.)

Jim Whitehurst, in a year-end interview with Investor’s Business Daily, predicted a huge surge in Red Hat’s hiring in 2012. The company is in the process of planning for the move of its corporate headquarters to downtown Raleigh from N.C. State’s Centennial Campus. And Red Hat has already promised to create hundreds of jobs as part of the expansion.

However, the move could be pushed back to 2013 given the ongoing delays in the proposed merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Red Hat will be taking over a Progress tower.

That delay is apparently not affecting Red Hat’s employment plans when it comes to beefing up cloud development, sales and marketing. Red Hat is receiving more than $4 million in tax credits and incentives to add 181 jobs at its engineering headquarters in Massachusetts, for example.

“We will add at least 1,000 new people next year,” Whitehurst told the paper, which noted Red Hat currently employs more than 4,000 people worldwide.

“So we are growing relatively rapidly,” Whitehurst said. “A lot of that is based on the success of our software products in a cloud context.”

Red Hat envisions its first $1 billion sales year with cloud deals providing a big boost. The company also has stepped upped its acquisition pace with cloud technology a key point of emphasis. (Read details here.)

So why are companies embracing the cloud and other IT improvements?

“Companies are finally starting to see significant productivity gains from technology, so they are able to grow without hiring as many people,” Whitehurst said.

“We are hiring, and I’m sure companies like Amazon (AMZN) and others who provide cloud computing are hiring. But I think that is a drop in the bucket relative to the productivity we are providing enterprises, and that again leads to, unfortunately, slower job growth.”

For the full interview, read here.

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