UK could see almost 15,000 tech jobs created this year

The UK could see the creation of 14,959 technology roles over the next year, according to research by CompTIA.

This is more than the yearly average of new tech jobs added to the UK’s tech landscape, with CompTIA saying the past five years has seen an average of 10,356 new roles.

“Over the past few years, the technology industry and technology professionals have proven how vital they are to the entire nation,” said Estelle Johannes, senior director of global communities at CompTIA. “The drastic changes and ongoing uncertainty highlighted how important a robust technology ecosystem is to the success of the economy.”

The importance of tech talent was emphasised during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, where technology and those in charge of it were responsible for ensuring the UK functioned as close to normal as possible while citizens worked, shopped, socialised and schooled virtually.

It also solidified the idea that technology is a vital component of all companies, regardless of whether or not those companies are predominantly technology focused.

CompTIA found that 48.4% of the 1,978,041 people employed in UK tech in 2021 are working in tech-related roles in companies and industry not necessarily related to technology.

It also found that around 31% of people working in the technology sector are in roles that support and compliment the running of tech businesses, but are not necessarily roles that involve technology, such as sales, marketing and HR.

When it comes to roles, the largest number of tech workers are in software engineering or web design – with 352,103 people in the UK working in these types of roles in 2021, and expected to increase by +0.9% in 2022.

This is closely followed by IT analysts, and cyber security and systems-related roles – 300,165 in the UK were in these types of jobs in 2021, and CompTIA expects an increase of +0.7% of people in these roles in 2022.

In the past few years, there has been an emphasis on how technology will play a large role in the UK’s economic recovery from the pandemic – the tech sector accounts for around £82.6bn to the UK economy, according to CompTIA.

Tech employment accounted for 6.3% of the UK workforce in 2021, according to CompTIA, and while the number of people employed in tech-based roles only increased 0.1% year on year between 2020 and 2021, the tech industry association predicts it will see an almost 1% increase in 2022.

The concentration of technology talent varies across the UK, with London having the largest concentration of tech employees at 405,034, followed by Manchester at 79,958 and Bristol with 47,720.

But when it comes to the percentage of working population in a city working in a tech role, Edinburgh tops the charts with 8.8% of those in employment are in tech, closely followed by London where tech workers make up 8.5%.

Salary for roles also varies by region, with tech workers in London making an average of £49,684, while their counterparts in Edinburgh average £40,106, and £39,864 in Bristol.

Despite the importance of technology in the UK, there is still a diversity gap when it comes to the types of people who are more likely to be in technology roles.

While women make up 49% of the UK’s working population, CompTIA found they only make up around 17% of the UK tech sector – behind the US, where they make up just over a quarter.