The headline is a split market. Demand for AI skills increased nearly 200 percent in a year, with London accounting for 80 percent of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all technology vacancies in the UK The Register (Accenture data). So the appetite for specialist capability is strong, and it is concentrated.
But the picture at the start of a career looks very different. Adzuna has seen a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT's launch, with graduates facing the toughest job market since 2018 techUK – What's actually happening with entry-level and graduate jobs?. The UK tech sector cut graduate jobs by 46 percent in the past year, with a further 53 percent drop projected The Register. Instinct says tech always hires juniors. The evidence says that door is narrowing fast.
Against a subdued 2025 economic backdrop, businesses took a cautious approach to hiring, but there were demand hotspots for specialist skills including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). The lesson for anyone planning a move: follow the hotspots, not the headlines.
Some roles sit squarely in critical shortage. IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, a group of 193k workers, are among the occupations in critical demand, with three out of five indicators in critical demand in 2025 Occupations in demand 2025, Explore Education Statistics, GOV.UK. That is a clear, evidence-led signal about where scarce experience pays off.
The seniority gap is widening too. In engineering, entry-level hiring has fallen to -19% while senior hiring sits at -10%, a nine-percentage-point gap GOV.UK - A snapshot of entry-level hiring in the UK. In other words, employers are still buying proven skills while pulling back at the junior end.
The longer view is more optimistic. For the total of AI-related occupations, the net change ranges from approximately 696,000 jobs in the Automation Scenario to 1,072,000 in the Technological Opportunities Scenario, with replacement demand rising from 3,077,000 to 3,193,000 jobs AI Skills for Life and Work: Labour market and skills projections - GOV.UK. And there are new routes in: apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. Evidence over instinct means weighing both the near-term squeeze and the long-term growth.
Start with retention, because the market is mobile. 79% of UK technical professionals plan to change employers in 2026 Engineering and Technology Jobs (IET) / Rise Technical. That churn is both a risk to your current team and an opportunity to attract people who are already looking.
Then hire on evidence, not gut feel. Define the skill you actually need, test it with real tasks, and judge people on what they can do rather than where they trained. With entry-level routes narrowing, apprenticeships and reskilled talent deserve a serious look, especially as the UK government announced a partnership to upskill 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030, equivalent to around 20% of the UK workforce techUK.
When the data tells you exactly which skills are scarce, the next step is reaching the right people quickly. We search a database of 15 million candidates, rank a shortlist in under 30 seconds and contact matched people in under a minute, so you move while the market is moving. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you are hiring for AI and technology roles, Reed.ai can help you find the right person.
