It's tight, and the data backs that up. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) reports that 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list. That pressure is visible in the wider market too: the Office for National Statistics found that in August to October 2025 the largest volume increase in vacancies was in the professional, scientific and technical activities sector, which rose by 5,000.
Demand isn't spread evenly, which is exactly why a talent map helps. Computer Weekly notes that against a subdued 2025 economic backdrop, businesses took a cautious approach to hiring, but there were clear demand hotspots for specialist tech skills including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security. When budgets are careful and competition is fierce in a few pockets, knowing where the people are beats hiring blind.
Start with the roles the market says are hardest to fill. Occupations in Demand 2025, published on GOV.UK lists IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, a group of around 193,000 workers, among the occupations in critical demand, with three out of five indicators in critical demand in 2025. If those sit on your roadmap, map them first.
Then track where the heat is building. The Register, citing Accenture data reports that demand for AI skills increased nearly 200% in a year, with London accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all technology vacancies in the UK. A map that shows this concentration tells you where to compete hard and where to widen your search to regions with more available talent.
Movement matters as much as scarcity. Engineering and Technology Jobs, reporting Rise Technical's 2025/26 Insights Report of over 500 employers and 1,000 candidates found that 79% of UK technical professionals plan to change employers in 2026. That's a large pool in motion, so your map should flag who's likely open to a move, not just who holds the right title today.
Work in four simple layers. First, define the target: the role, the must-have skills and the seniority, framed around the problem the hire solves rather than a long wish list. Second, read the market. Use the public signals above to confirm which skills are scarce, where the people cluster and how likely they are to move.
Third, build the pool. Search one large, searchable candidate database rather than stitching together scattered sources, and filter by skill, location and availability. Fourth, prioritise outreach. Rank people by fit and likely openness, then contact the strongest matches first. Keep the map live: refresh it as roles shift and as new market data lands, so it stays a working tool, not a one-off spreadsheet.
The point of doing this without a research team is speed and focus. You spend your time talking to the right people instead of hunting for them, and every conversation is informed by where the market actually sits.
This is the part that used to need a team, and now it doesn't. We search 15 million candidates, so the pool you map is already there, and we rank a shortlist in under 30 seconds, contact matched people in under a minute and can have an interview booked in under three minutes. Those are system speeds, built to turn a map into real conversations fast.
Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, through Reed.ai. Want to see your software talent map come together? Start a search with us today and watch the shortlist build.
