Half of UK tech workers planning to leave role, finds Harvey Nash

Half of tech workers in the UK have plans to leave their current role in the next 12 months, according to the 2024 Harvey Nash Global tech talent and salary report.

The research, which surveyed thousands of tech employees across 44 countries, found the number of employees planning to leave roles in the UK is higher than the global average of 45%, and the main reason UK employees gave for looking to move roles is to gain more money.

Over 40% said they’re also looking to work elsewhere to advance their career, and 31% are looking for a business with a different culture.

Andy Heyes, managing director for UK and Ireland and central Europe at Harvey Nash, said: “Conditions have been fairly challenging in the UK (as elsewhere). Our report shows that workloads have been rising and there is an element of hoping the grass may be greener elsewhere. In addition, we have always had a very mobile tech workforce in the UK, with a lot of contractors and freelancers in the mix.

“Millennials and the younger generations are also very mobile in their outlook. Add to that what some are describing as the ‘Big Stay’ so far this year due to market conditions – and the result is the potential for a lot of movement and change.”

The tech hiring landscape has varied over the past five years, with the Covid-19 pandemic seeing a spike in tech hiring as digital kept the world turning when people were forced to stay indoors, followed by the “great resignation”, where swathes of tech workers left their jobs looking for new opportunities both in and outside the sector, and most recently there has been talk of the tables turning, with tech workers worried about redundancies and budget cuts threatening their jobs.

But tech workers are also becoming increasingly picky about where they choose to work, and Harvey Nash’s report found employees are expecting more from the companies they work for than ever before, from flexible working to better healthcare benefits.

Globally, there is an emphasis on well-being in the workplace, and 80% of employees feel their organisations are supportive of their mental and physical wellbeing.

Hybrid working and flexible working are some of the most common ways firms are offering employees well-being support – globally, 52% of employees said their firms were very supportive of hybrid working and 48% said they support flexible working.

It’s initiatives like this that can help attract and retain diverse talent into a business – recent reports from the Tech Talent Charter found women are being excluded from the industry due to a lack of flexibility, and many women are not only choosing to leave their tech role, but to leave tech altogether.

Almost 40% of employees globally aren’t asked to come into the office at all, while zero office days is also the preference for 34%, and Harvey Nash found the preference for women is to come into the office only one or two days a week.

These are positive steps, but the report described attitudes towards diversity in the sector as a “paradox”, with 83% of global employees saying they believe their organisation is supportive of workplace diversity, despite diversity in the sector still clearly falling behind.

Women in tech often have very different career paths than their male counterparts – according to the report, women globally are more likely to be contractors than men, with 42% of women freelancing versus 33% of men in tech. Heyes said this is likely “due to the flexibility it offers”, allowing women the work-life balance many have claimed is important for them when choosing a role.

When it comes to finding their way into the technology sector, while globally 52% of employees said their university degree was their first port of call for the tech knowledge they needed for their tech career, 15% said industry training was where they developed their tech skills – 8% claimed to come through an apprenticeship, and 15% found their tech career through “other” routes.

Women are more likely to have come into the technology sector through non-traditional routes, with more than half of women worldwide transitioning into a tech career after starting their career elsewhere.

Women are also more likely than men to start their tech career with an industry certification, and twice as many women than men come into tech via an apprenticeship.

“Partly, this shows that the tech industry is not doing a good enough job to attract girls and young women when they are making their first career or further education choices,” said Heyes. “But more women see the attractions of working in tech – and how this can play well to their skillsets – later on when they’ve built wider networks and contacts.

“It’s also the result of some women coming back into the workforce after a break in their careers. The industry realises that there is a strong talent pool among mature workplace returners and are keen to tap into that to access talent and boost diversity.”

But a lack of access to skilled workers, diverse or otherwise, is still a barrier for achieving some projects – 34% of those asked said a lack of access to the appropriate skills is standing in the way of achieving their business’s automation strategy.

Automation and AI are a big focus for most tech firms right now, though 41% of tech employees globally feel they are having a hard time developing AI strategy, and 30% are “unprepared” for what impacts GenAI will have on their jobs and organisations.

In a bid to close the tech skills gap, businesses are making an effort to internally train employees to prepare them for emerging technology, with 17% of tech employees asked globally claiming to be receiving training for emerging tech.

But there are also concerns aired in the report about the diversity of teams developing AI, as several large firms have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, despite the high risk of bias being introduced into technology if those developing it don’t match the audience using it.

Bev White, CEO of Nash Squared, owners of Harvey Nash, concluded: “The UK’s tech industry never stands still, and continues to be an exciting and rewarding career with endless opportunities for those looking to join it.

With so many organisations looking at how to harness the power of AI, the findings laid out in this report will help the industry truly understand what those responsible for delivering on tech strategy are thinking, and what organisations need to consider to attract, and importantly, retain this highly valued talent. The stakes are high – winning on talent could be the difference between business success and failure.”