Tech recruitment continues to be acutely competitive, according to hiring managers across the UK.

New research conducted by global talent services company Morgan McKinley as part of its 2024 Salary Guide has revealed that over three quarters (76%) of technology hiring managers found recruitment very or quite competitive in 2023 across the UK.

The Guide identified key challenges for 2024, with 25% of hiring managers citing the shortage of skilled candidates as their primary obstacle.

Other challenges included difficulties in competing on pay and benefits (22%) and a lack of approval for new headcount (19%).

Despite the challenging market, things are looking brighter in 2024 with half of technology hiring managers revealing that they are increasing headcount in the first half of the year and 46% of technology workers are looking for new roles in that same period, with a further 31% considering a move.

Three quarters of technology professionals chose to stay in their current roles throughout the year, indicating a reluctance to change jobs due to concerns about being last in, first out.

However, nearly half (46%) expressed feelings of indifference, insecurity, or significant insecurity in their current positions.

When looking to move roles, technology workers value a higher salary (40%) of the most, followed by career growth and development opportunities (14%), and ability to work fully remote (13%).

Flexibility continues to be important with work from home and flexible working hours placing first and third respectively in technology professionals’ top five valued benefits. These sat alongside bonus (second), health insurance (fourth), and a pension (fifth).

Technology had the greatest proportion of people who places ‘work from home’ as one of their most valued benefits (71% picked it in their top five).

42% of technology professionals would prefer to be in the office one to two days a week, whilst 8% want to be on-site five days a week.

Over half (53%) would skip a pay rise if it meant they got the flexibility they desire. 69% of employers expect their salary offers to increase for certain hard-to-fill roles across technology, and a further 20% plan to increase salary offers for all technology teams.

“The hot new trends and demand for talent are around Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, where most companies continue to struggle with a shortage of skilled talent,” Kieran Scully, senior manager of technology recruitment at Morgan McKinley UK, commented.

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“We’re seeing that the most in demand roles and skills for 2024 will be across the areas of Data, AI, Cyber and Cloud. This will come as companies continue to build out their strength in these ever-evolving fields to make sure they are protected from any potential threats and adequately equipped to deal with whatever new progressions develop.”

“However, the lack of skilled professionals in these fields will make hiring competitive. The shortage of talent in some markets will see salaries continually increase, particularly across the areas mentioned earlier, whilst we expect them to stabilise more in Software Development.”

Key Jobs and Skills in Demand 

The Guide also released the jobs and skills in demand for 2024, ranging from software development, infrastructure, architecture, and data and analytics.

A python developer was the most in demand job for software development, followed by Java and Javascript developers. Cloud technologies were the most in demand skill in this area.

Infrastructure engineers were the number one in-demand job, followed by cybersecurity engineers and cloud specialists. Containers and cloud computing were the top two skills in this realm.

Solutions, cloud, and data architects were the top three most in-demand jobs for architecture specialists, with DevOps and cloud computing the most sought after skills.

Data analysts were in demand as well, with Python the most in-demand skill in data and analytics.