UK tech companies hiring at record levels post-pandemic

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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

UK tech companies hiring at record levels post-pandemic

  • 19 Oct 2021
  • |

    The top UK tech companies and startups continue to hire at record rates with a 128% increase in jobs on offer since September 2020

  • Statistics
    • UK tech hiring at record levels with 150,000 live vacancies
    • 128% year-on-year growth in hiring amongst the UK’s top startups & scaleups 
    • Foodtech unicorns Deliveroo, Gousto & Hellofresh have continued to flourish post-pandemic with 400 live vacancies between them 
    • Programming and Developer jobs most sought after with 74,000 live vacancies

    The top UK tech companies and startups continue to hire at record rates with a 128% increase in jobs on offer since September 2020, according to job sites Adzuna.co.uk and WorkinStartups.com. This makes up 4,895 advertised vacancies

    The switch to online services that accelerated during the pandemic has been fueling the industry, creating an abundance of opportunities right across the UK. The Office of National Statistics reported almost 20,000 new tech companies had registered on Companies House during the pandemic, so the record growth in tech jobs comes as no surprise. 

    Which tech companies are hiring?

    The UK Foodtech scene remains very well-positioned and has continued to show the largest growth in hiring. The pandemic has notably accelerated the online food delivery business, with London creating a strong foundation as a global hub for FoodTech innovation. Foodtech giants, Deliveroo (239 vacancies), Gousto (117 vacancies) and Hellofresh (41 vacancies), continue to flourish post-pandemic with huge increases in their number of vacancies compared to this time last year. 

    Citypantry, the UK corporate catering marketplace who were acquired by Just Eat in 2019, has seen the largest growth in number of vacancies (75 vacancies), indicating employees returning to the office and is now in full swing. 

    Amazon remains the highest advertiser (1,571 vacancies) amongst the top UK tech firms with their number of jobs doubling from last September. 

    Deliveroo is notable for a further reason, which it shares with FTSE 250 cyber security AI business Darktrace: both were among the thirty tech and consumer internet companies to list their shares on the London Stock Exchange so far this year and both raised money when doing so. They therefore have enhanced funds to drive expansion, including by recruitment. Darktrace is actively recruiting across all roles, with over 70 vacancies in the UK and over 250 globally. The growing popularity of the tech IPO has demonstrated the vital link between strength in stock markets and the real economy.

    What tech jobs are in demand and where are they?

    Tech vacancies have been analysed by the most popular searched job titles within the industry to indicate where the demand is. With online presence being more important than ever, it’s no surprise that SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) has seen the largest year-on-year growth, at 274% and a creation of 6,997 jobs. 

    Programming and Developer jobs continue to lead the way with 74,000 vacancies currently on the market. This growth has continued right through the pandemic and isn’t showing signs of slowing. 

    London and South West England remain to be the strongest regions with the number of tech jobs available however, Eastern England and the West Midlands have seen a similar growth (130%) since September last year, with an additional 10,000 jobs on the market between them. 

    In March 2021, we celebrated the milestone of hitting 1 million vacant jobs in the UK after seeing a real low last May, with just 350,700 on the market. There are now over 1.2 million jobs on the market with tech jobs making up 13% (150,000) of the total UK vacancies according to Adzuna data. Comparing this to May 2020, that is a 348% increase. 

    Vicky Vitkay, general manager at Work in Startup comments: It’s exciting to see UK tech unicorns and startups continuing to thrive. We can certainly celebrate the UK being the global capital of innovation, however efforts and focus need to go into ensuring diversity and inclusion are fulfilled within this huge ecosystem and importantly, we need to be providing more entry level job opportunities for graduates who are entering the market. 

     Table 1: Vacancies & Growth rate by Job type

    Job Type

    September 2021 vacancies 

    YoY % Change 

    SQL

    31,695

    146.69%

    Product Manager 

    26,405

    114.14%

    Digital  Marketing 

    17,900

    127.27%

    Java

    16,251

    124.18%

    IT Support

    14,813

    174.62%

    Web Developer 

    8,585

    77.56%

    Data Scientist 

    10,408

    151.52%

    PHP

    6,907

    106.30%

    SEO

    9,545

    274.61%

    Front End Developer 

    5,348

    121.54%

    Social Media Manager 

    4,071

    133.43%

    Web Designer 

    3,243

    128.38%

    Ruby

    2,832

    117.51%

    CTO

    2,381

    113.93%

    IT Sales

    3,433

    208.72%

    Perl 

    1,212

    67.17%

    DBA

    991

    87.33%

    Table 2: Tech Job Vacancies, Growth rate and Average Salary by Region

    Region  

    September 2021 tech vacancies

    YoY% change 

    Average advertised salary

    UK wide*

    147,671

    142%

    £60,315

    London

    49,145

    141%

    £75,085

    South East England

    25,298

    153%

    £59,722

    North West England

    11,588

    105%

    £49,430

    South West England

    9,843

    76%

    £50,222

    Eastern England

    8,797

    135%

    £49,450

    West Midlands

    8,943

    132%

    £50,222

    Yorkshire And The Humber

    5,389

    105%

    £47,411

    Scotland

    6,299

    114%

    £51,827

    East Midlands

    4,361

    94%

    £59,722

    Wales

    2,238

    97%

    £42,212

    North East England

    2386

    114%

    £43,154

    Northern Ireland

    1831

    70%

    £45,969