(Pam Derringer, News Contributor, TechTarget) Windows job-seekers may have 30% more available openings today in the U.S. than their Linux counterparts. On the flipside, however, the number of Linux listings nationwide is growing while demand for Windows staffers is dropping.

According to the latest figures from IT job site Dice.com, Windows had the most OS job listings on October 1 with 8,865 postings, but the tally was 8% less than the 9,643 Windows opportunities that had been advertised at the start of the year.

Linux ranked third (behind Unix) with 6,168 postings in October. But in contrast to Windows, Linux postings grew by 6% during the year, increasing from 5,839 jobs listed on January 5.

Specific listings for Red Hat Inc., meanwhile, increased nearly 4% from last January, but postings for Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise skills dropped 14% during the same period.

Demand for Windows and Linux platforms, however, was down significantly from a year ago on the cusp of the recession: Windows dropped 43% from last October's total of 15,566 and Linux declined 35% from 9,451 a year ago. Red Hat and SUSE also declined sharply from the previous October, Red Hat by 34% and SUSE by 57%.