The UK's digital and technology sector is large and central to the economy. There are now 107,082 companies in the updated Digital and Technology sector definition, representing 5.2% of all UK companies GOV.UK's Digital and Technologies sector statistics. That scale keeps demand for skilled people high, but hiring has become far more selective.
The picture at the top of the funnel is tight. UK tech graduate jobs fell by 46% in the past year, with a further 53% drop projected, according to figures from the Institute of Student Employers reported by The Register. Entry-level postings have followed the same path: Adzuna data shows a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT launched, leaving graduates in their toughest market since 2018 according to techUK.
Yet demand for specialist skills is strong. Against a subdued 2025 backdrop, businesses stayed cautious but kept hiring hotspots open for AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security Computer Weekly's tech recruitment outlook for 2026. The wider category is growing too: the largest volume increase in vacancies from August to October 2025 was in professional, scientific and technical activities, up by 5,000 the ONS reported in November 2025.
Sustainability is now a hiring driver in its own right. Some 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list the Institution of Engineering and Technology found. That gap sits right where technology and green targets meet: energy-efficient infrastructure, carbon reporting tools and data-driven measurement.
The roles that connect strategy to delivery are especially hard to fill. IT business analysts, architects and systems designers, a group of around 193,000 workers, are in critical demand, with three out of five indicators flagged as critical in 2025 per the Occupations in Demand 2025 analysis. These are the people who design greener systems and prove the savings, so demand for them is rising as green IT targets take hold.
AI skills sit alongside this shift. Demand for AI skills rose nearly 200% in a year, with London accounting for 80% of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all UK technology vacancies Accenture data reported by The Register. And the way teams build these skills is changing: apprenticeships have grown from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 according to the DSIT AI Labour Market Survey 2025, a route that helps open fresh roles to people from wider backgrounds.
Start with the skill, not the job title. Cyber security shows why: 70% of cyber firms reported at least one hard-to-fill vacancy in the Cyber Security Skills 2024 comparison noted in the AI Labour Market Survey 2025. Define the sustainability outcome you want, then map the technical skills that deliver it. That keeps your shortlist focused on people who can do the work, not just people with the right words on a CV.
Widen the routes in. With graduate and entry-level volumes falling, apprenticeships and internal moves matter more, and the AI apprenticeship trend shows they work at scale per the DSIT AI Labour Market Survey 2025. Look beyond London too, since demand is heavily concentrated there as the Accenture data shows, and remote or regional hiring can open a much larger pool.
Be realistic about pay for specialist skills. Top technology firms can pay sizeable wages to skilled migrants, well above the salary threshold, while pay for engineering professionals on the Skilled Worker route is broadly in line with the UK average the Migration Advisory Committee reports. Benchmark honestly for the exact skill you need, and move quickly once you find the right person.
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