Tech job vacancies increase by 26%
London’s bruised technology sector is slowly bouncing back – in June new tech job roles within tech firms increased by +10.3% on the previous month, and by +25.7% in May.
When looking at technology roles based in non-tech companies, London job volume was only marginally down in the past month (-1.52%) and saw a marginal increase of +11.48% in May.
The new report from recruitment specialists Robert Walters and jobs market intelligence firm Vacancysoft reveals that if job volume for tech-based roles continues at the same pace – London would still be -54.2% down, compared to 2022.
Early March saw the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank – sending shockwaves through the global tech market, with investors holding back to see what the fallout may be. The following month saw tech giant Meta layoff 4,000 employees, with Google’s parent company Alphabet announcing 12,000 job losses at the start of this year, and Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk cutting his company headcount by 80% since taking over at the end of 2022. The ramifications were felt in London, with tech job roles within tech companies, plummeting by -50.4% in April (vs the previous month), and non-tech firms by -37%, according to the Robert Walters report.
Job creation for software developers and engineers has returned to pre-pandemic levels – accounting for 28% of all London-tech roles currently advertised. Tech Management and Infrastructure roles have also increased – accounting for 23% and 14% of all roles advertised for, respectively, with a +2% increase.
The only two sectors that have surpassed the volume of tech roles that have been hired for this year compared to 2022 are Not-For-Profits (+72%) and Industrials and Engineering (+17%). London’s banking and financial services sector continues to invest back into its tech function – with 28.8% of all new London roles coming from this market. This year, the volume of new tech roles across UK banks NatWest Markets and Lloyds has increased by +72.5% and +48.4% respectively.
James Chaplin, CEO of Vacancysoft said: “While tech companies may have cut back on their recruitment this year, the industry is taking an ever-increasingly important role in the London economy. With that, we are forecasting the sector to rebound next year, as the economy normalises.”
Ben Litvinoff, Associate Director, of Technology at Robert Walters said: “The early signs of job flow returning are linked to considered and business-critical hires, the return of transformation and change projects which may have been put on hold at the start of this year, and investor activity slowly returning leading to a rise in demand for developers and infrastructure specialists. Much like in any industry, the largest players can have a notable impact on business and investor confidence.”
