Demand for specialist skills is running hot, and export control sits right at the centre of it. The UK cyber security workforce now stands at roughly 143,000 people, with annual growth climbing from 2% in 2022 to 5% in 2024 the government's Cyber security skills in the UK labour market 2025 report. That tells you a sector adjacent to defence is expanding, but not fast enough to cover every vacancy.
The pressure shows up most clearly in the hard-to-fill roles. A comparison in the 2025 AI labour market work found that 70% of cyber firms reported at least one hard-to-fill vacancy the AI Labour Market Survey 2025, published on GOV.UK. When you add export control to that mix, you are hiring for a rarer blend still.
AI demand is reshaping the whole picture too. Demand for AI skills rose nearly 200% in a year, with London alone accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all technology vacancies in the UK Accenture data reported by The Register. Agentic workflows pull these two worlds together, so the people who understand both are in short supply.
An agentic workflow is a system where AI agents carry out steps on their own: classifying data, drafting licence applications, flagging restricted parties. In defence and security, every one of those steps can touch controlled technology, so the human skills around the agent matter as much as the agent itself.
The specialist demand backs this up. Through 2025, businesses took a cautious approach to hiring, but there were clear hotspots for specialist tech skills including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security Computer Weekly's tech recruitment outlook for 2026. Export control compliance draws on all four at once.
The core skills we see employers hiring for break down like this:
There is also a route into these roles that is growing fast. Apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 the DSIT AI Labour Market Survey 2025, which gives employers a way to build export control and AI skills in-house rather than competing for a fixed pool.
Start by separating what the agent does from what a person must still own. Map your workflow, then mark every point where a licensing decision, a classification call or a restricted-party check needs human judgement. Those marks become your job description.
Test for applied knowledge, not just certificates. Ask a candidate to walk through how they would classify a dual-use item, or how they would set the boundary an agent cannot cross without sign-off. The way they reason tells you more than any single qualification.
Build a pipeline rather than chasing one perfect hire. The national push helps here: during London Tech Week 2025 the government announced a plan to upskill 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030, around 20% of the workforce techUK's coverage of the London Tech Week 2025 announcement. Pairing experienced export control professionals with AI-literate newcomers is a practical way to cover both sides of the role.
Finally, move quickly once you find the right person. Scarce, security-cleared, export-aware talent does not sit on the market for long, so a slow process is often a lost hire.
We search 15 million candidates to find the people who combine export control knowledge with the AI and data skills your agentic workflows need, then 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. Tell us what your workflow needs, and we will build your shortlist today.
