The wider labour market is cautious. The Low Pay Commission describes 2025 as a 'low hire, low fire' market, with weaker recruitment and vacancies dropping below pre-pandemic levels Low Pay Commission Report 2025, GOV.UK. That backdrop makes deliberate, targeted hiring matter more, not less.
Against that subdued picture, specialist skills are the exception. Businesses took a cautious approach to headcount in 2025, but there were clear demand hotspots for specialist tech skills including AI, data and cyber security Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). Cyber underwriting sits squarely in that hot zone: it needs people who understand insurance and cyber risk at the same time.
The cyber talent pool itself is still small. There are around 143,000 people in the UK cyber security workforce, with growth moderating from earlier years to about 5% in 2024 Cyber security skills in the UK labour market 2025 - GOV.UK. When you are hiring an underwriter who can read a threat landscape, you are competing for a slice of a limited group.
Insurers are building teams that blend three capabilities: underwriting judgement, cyber security literacy and data analysis. The volume signal is there in the wider market. In August to October 2025, the largest volume increase in vacancies was in professional, scientific and technical activities, which rose by 5,000 ONS – Vacancies and jobs in the UK: November 2025. Insurance risk roles draw on the same specialist supply.
Filling these roles is hard, and the data proves it. A comparison in the AI Labour Market Survey pointed back to the Cyber Security Skills 2024 findings, where 70% of cyber firms reported at least one hard-to-fill vacancy AI Labour Market Survey 2025 (Gardiner & Theobald), GOV.UK / publishing.service.gov.uk. Cyber underwriting inherits that difficulty because it competes for the same scarce knowledge.
The pipeline is also narrowing at the entry point. The UK tech sector cut graduate jobs by 46% in the past year, with a further 53% drop projected The Register. Fewer junior tech hires today means a thinner cross-trained pool for cyber underwriting tomorrow, so insurers who plan ahead win.
There is a route around the shortage: growing your own. In AI hiring, apprenticeships have risen from 3% of hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. Insurers can apply the same thinking, pairing experienced underwriters with cyber apprentices to build the hybrid skill set the line needs.
Start by being honest about the trade-off you are making. Demand for specialist skills is what will drive the market in 2026, so the people you want are being courted elsewhere Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). Move quickly, keep your process short and give a clear reason to choose insurance over a pure security role.
Widen where you look. Demand for AI skills rose nearly 200% in a year, with London accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings The Register (Accenture data). If specialist talent is that concentrated, insurers who consider remote, regional and cross-sector candidates open up a bigger pool than competitors fishing in the same London pond.
Finally, think in years, not quarters. With graduate and entry-level tech hiring falling, the specialists you cannot buy in 2026 are the ones you should be developing now The Register. A steady pipeline beats a scramble every renewal season.
When the pool is this specialist, reach and speed decide who hires first. We search a database of 15 million candidates to surface people who match your cyber underwriting brief, then rank a shortlist and manage the process end to end. 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. Tell us the role you are building today and we will start the shortlist.
