Doubling your salary sounds like clickbait. I get it. I'd scroll past that headline too. But hear me out — because in DevOps in 2026, it's actually one of the more realistic career moves you can make in tech. And I want to break down why without the usual hype. The Real Reason Most IT Salaries Plateau Photo by Unsplash It's not that your work isn't valuable. It's supply and demand — and in most traditional IT roles, supply is high. When a lot of people can do what you do, salaries flatten. Simple as that. I've seen brilliant support engineers, manual testers, and sysadmins stuck at the same band for 3+ years — not because they weren't good, but because they were competing in an overcrowded pool. The harsh reality? Being good at your job isn't enough if hundreds of others are equally good at the same job.…