The IT, tech and digital sector is still booming. It continues to enjoy an unrivalled trajectory of growth.
This surge has led to a mass hiring of tech and digital professionals. UK-wide data reveals that tech and IT-related positions make up 13% of all UK job vacancies, up from 12.3% for the same period last year.
Looking at the current employment numbers, nearly 3 million professionals are employed in the UK tech industry. This is 9% of the entire UK workforce.
Data created for the UK’s Digital Economy Council suggest that the number of advertised tech and digital roles is 42% higher than before the pandemic. Cities such as Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Preston have seen the sharpest increases in tech and digital hiring.
Where is the tech boom?
The UK now has more than 42,000 start-ups and almost 10,000 corporate tech companies within its borders all competing for the industry’s smartest digital people.
Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh is topping the tech job podium. It has the highest tech job offering in the UK – 30% of all open job roles in the city are within the tech sector. Its list is impressive; a cohort of hyper–growth scale-ups and dynamic creative start-ups spanning fintech, cybersecurity, big data, and Ecotech. Edinburgh is fast establishing itself as a world-class technology hub with its impressive alumni of strong and diverse tech businesses.
The Scottish capital is not the only one riding the tech wave. Reading and Glasgow both have considerable tech job opportunities; 29% and 28% respectively.
Why is there such a tech and digital employment boom?
Funding.
This rate of growth could be explained by the fact that UK start-up and scaleup organisations have raised an impressive £13.5 billion in funding across the first half of 2021. This financial boost allows these visionary companies to hire professionals who can grow their businesses for the digital age.
The need for digital.
The pandemic has forced our hand in terms of our digital behaviour. For 18 months we have relied upon digital solutions. We have banked online, socialised online, and depended upon cloud solutions to work online.
Businesses have been forced to pivot. Brick and mortar businesses have created digital alternatives.
Restaurants have set up online food box delivery. Eating out has been replaced by ordering in, and students of all ages have been ushered into digital classrooms.
All these changes have led to a surge in tech and digital job vacancies as companies realise two things; the future is digital and that there needs to be the digital infrastructure in place to scale up in the face of increased demand.
The digital revolution.
Perhaps the overriding reason for this huge demand for tech professionals stems from the fact that nearly EVERY organisation has a digital presence, whether they are a tech firm or not. Each business needs tech talent to power its digital machine.
The huge gamut of tech and digital roles needed to do so creates a hiring surge like no other. Whether you need Machine Learning professionals to support your AI efforts or SEO marketers to increase your web traffic flow, it is undeniable that your tech and digital teams will be your biggest assets in the digital age.
Who’s hiring?
Data suggests that there has been considerable growth in hiring from a host of UK tech companies across the country.
Deliveroo, Farfetch, Gousto, and Cazoo are leading the homegrown tech company recruitment charge. These 4 big-name scale-ups have more than doubled their recruitment efforts since the spring.
Among the tech titans, Facebook, Amazon, and Google have each increased recruitment efforts in Britain over the summer. Collectively, these FAANG companies had over 2,000 open technical job vacancies in the last 6 months.
We can help you.
Are you looking for your next tech, digital or data role? We build digital careers and pride ourselves on the work we do finding the tech talent to power businesses for the digital age.
Reach out to us today or have a browse through our tech, digital and data jobs here.
