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We’re back for our insights of Q3, July – September 2022.
Welcome to Bright Purple’s latest IT and Tech job market report. In this article, we’ll take a look at the IT and Tech jobs market across the UK in Q3 2022.
The summer months have continued in a positive trend for both Bright Purple and the wider UK Tech Industry, with IT and Tech vacancies continuing to soar past pre-pandemic levels.
Click on the points below to skip to a section or scroll down to read our full report and findings.
Industry Highlights:
Bright Purple Highlights:
Industry Highlights
This may be a result of employers trying to get their vacancies advertised before they go on holiday – or it may be indicative of the super-busy jobs market.
Demand for software developers continues to lead the way – up 56% compared with 2019, with more than 56,000 developer roles or 8% of the total, advertised so far this year. This is good news for Digital Bootcamp/re-skilling academies like CodeClan which specialise in the two key areas.
Meanwhile, there has also been a strong uptick in hiring for Security roles by companies that are adapting to business challenges like increased cyber threats. Demand for Engineers in particular, has been doubling since 2019, and Security is now in the top five most in-demand skills when hiring.
In terms of other skills, Data Science is currently the most in-demand skill in UK tech, rising from third position in previous years, with a 1006% increase in demand for data skills since 2019. This is because Machine Learning, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence have become ever so important to insights-driven businesses. Popularity in Data Science has also been demonstrated by Python becoming the first language in 20 years to beat C and Java to the top of the TIOBE Index for the past 2 years.
While technical skills are important, there is also a growing demand for softer skills from employees, with Management, Client Expertise, and Communication climbing upwards. These are considered to be within the top 10 sought-after skills in tech jobs.
With the growing demand for tech roles to be filled, in particular senior roles, the number of entry-level candidates outweighs the number of entry-level roles, whereas the number of vacancies for senior tech roles outweighs the number of suitable senior candidates.
This may create a supply issue in future, with fewer prospective employees able to gain vital experience in tech, and companies struggling to hire experienced people.
According to a survey carried out by Tech Nation and You Gov, 64% of people who work in UK tech said that having tech skills was essential for job security. In addition, 26% believe that upskilling themselves in new digital or tech skills will allow them to earn more in the future.
Demand for tech roles by level of seniority.
The Total Jobs Hiring Index looks at the recruitment landscape across all sectors in the UK. Here are the key takeaways around the IT and Tech sector:
- Of all businesses which recruited in Q3, 23% hired IT/Tech positions
- IT/Tech businesses reported a 36% increase in recruitment in Q3
- Looking at Q4, skills shortages are expected to have the biggest impact on 25% of IT/Tech businesses
Bright Purple Highlights
There has been a lot of concern about what the impact of the changes in law with IR35 would do to the contract market. However, we are seeing a high number of contract roles being released.
We are also seeing a higher ratio of contract roles being filled, which shows companies still need contractors and are moving quickly to fill the demands. We believe this demand will continue as more projects ramp up.
Almost 50% of our live roles in Q3 required skills in Infrastructure, Support & Security, .Net, or JavaScript for both permanent and contract roles.
This is very much in line with the wider industry; the rise in infrastructure that has come with the pandemic. In addition, Security is now in the top five most in-demand skills when hiring in the UK. Security roles are in high demand by UK companies due to adapting to business challenges like increased cyber threats.
Home working is going nowhere!
35% of our vacancies in Q3 were fully remote, with almost every other job offering some form of hybrid working.
In a candidate-short market, continued flexibility is a must for many companies in order to engage and retain the best talent. The challenge comes with how we can maintain a bond between teams and employees when working apart
Tech continues to be a male dominated, and that clearly won’t change overnight. Here are some diversity stats around our recruitment process for Q3:
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25% of applications through our website were candidates who identify as female (2% preferred not to say)
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17% of all candidates that interviewed in Q3 identify as female
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17% of all placements made in Q3 identify as female
While the winter months tend to be quieter in recruitment, we’ve made a very strong start to this quarter:
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27% of our current placements this quarter are in contract roles
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14% of all our current placements in this quarter are candidates who identify as female
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We’re seeing a significant demand for Software Engineer roles
Bright Purple CEO Nick Price says:
 "Another solid quarter’s performance for the Bright Purple business. Given the continued serious economic challenges faced in the UK and globally, with threats of recession, high-interest rates, and continued war in Ukraine causing more uncertainty, this is a statement of intent of how hard our team is working to achieve our business goals. My personal thanks go to all our people, and it’s a team effort, from Finance to Marketing, Training to Sales; credit goes to the team.
As CEO of Bright Purple and a 27-year veteran with the firm, it’s true to say that I’ve seen my fair share of ups and downs as a leader. However, going into the final quarter of the year and looking toward 2023, it’s hard to say that I honestly know what’s coming down the track. We’re busy servicing existing customers and securing new wins. Talent demand in technology remains high and yet continued skills shortages exist in specific sectors across technology and cyber. We appear to be busy across our full-service offering, whether it be permanent or contract resourcing, projects or vertical specialism hiring, or our back-office offerings such as PES, they’re all in demand.
The challenge I see ahead in the UK in the coming period, especially with the UK’s low unemployment and existing tech skills shortages, is the inability of our firms to make the most of free movement of people from across Europe, denying many of our businesses access to top tech talent. However, maybe that’s where the new world of remote working and digital natives comes into play and where we, at Bright Purple, have a responsibility to come up with new and innovative thinking on what we can do to change the narrative. It’s a challenge, but next year is our 28th year of business, and one thing we are used to is, facing up to challenges”.
That’s a wrap on our Q3 insights.
If you have any questions about our findings, or you'd like to chat to Bright Purple about your tech recruitment need or your next career move, please reach out to us!
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