UK Tech Jobs on the Increase!

UK tech jobs are proving to be a rare beacon of light in the wider job market. The number of vacancies has risen by 36% between early June and early August.

This is according to data from the jobs website Adzuna, which was analysed by Tech Nation on behalf of the UK Government Digital Economy Council.

The Data

It found that while the tech sector saw a decline in jobs advertised during the lockdown, in line with other sectors, it has since rebounded. And while it has not yet reached pre-pandemic norms, with 90,297 jobs advertised in the week beginning 9 August compared to an average of 150,000 in the first three months of the year, it has grown to be the second-highest sector for job vacancies after healthcare.

Tech jobs have also climbed 40% in the last two years, with the sector currently employing 2.93 million people.

In many areas of the UK, the sector is now leading for jobs, with nine cities employing a fifth of their workforce in tech. Cambridge and Belfast have the highest percentage of tech jobs out of UK cities, at 26%, with Bristo Edinburgh, Newcastle, Reading, Glasgow, Cardiff and Leeds also being strong tech employers.

“For almost a decade the UK’s tech sector has been on a steady growth path, creating more startups and scaleups and attracting more venture capital investment each year,” said Gerard Grech, chief executive at Tech Nation.

“The pandemic threatened that trajectory and hit some parts of the tech sector, as well as non-tech industries extremely hard. However, tech companies have, in the last few weeks, found the confidence to begin hiring again. With digital adoption accelerating in every area of our lives, it looks likely that the tech sector will continue to be one of the best sources of new jobs this year and can provide the jobs of the future, right across the country.”

Top UK tech jobs

While tech jobs as a whole are rising in the country, certain positions and skills are more in demand than others.

A software developer is the most in-demand position in tech, joining key worker roles in the top five jobs for vacancies across all sectors.

Jobs requiring cloud skills have also climbed 22% since 2018, while jobs requiring knowledge of artificial intelligence or cybersecurity have grown 44% over the same period.

Notably, not all tech jobs require STEM skills. Client services, product management and scrum masters have all seen a significant upswing, while data ethics positions have grown 31% within a year.