The number of professionals with technology skills is expanding at a faster pace in the North of England than in London and the south.
Number crunchers from Accenture found that demand for technology professionals is increasing in the UK as the technology jobs market continues to recover from the pandemic.
The figures show that London has maintained the lion’s share of the UK’s open technology roles (68,000) with demand increasing by 89 per cent from last year.
But the data reveals there is sizeable potential for cities outside of the capital to become technology hubs in the future, with growth in demand increasing in Manchester (234 percent), Birmingham (385 percent) and Oxford (264 percent).
And it found that the pool of technology talent in cities in the North of England has grown on average by 15 percent in the last year, outpacing southern cities that grew on average by nine per cent.
Figures show Manchester experienced the highest level of growth in technology talent (25 percent) – predominantly driven by a 93 percent increase in the number of cyber security professionals now based in the city – while London reported just two percent growth in overall technology talent.
Technology skills in the capital declined by six percent in the last six months – the first time it has seen a dip since the start of the pandemic.
Shaheen Sayed, Accenture’s Technology Lead in the U.K. & Ireland, said: “The technology sector has a vital role to play in rebalancing the British economy and it’s extremely encouraging to see the spread of technology skills as the job market bounces back from the pandemic.
“With more robotics and AI fuelling our industries, new technology and software engineering skills are required in every corner of the country. London’s dominance as a centre of technology talent remains, but with growth in skills no longer being so concentrated in the South, it does indicate we are edging closer to closing the technology skills gap that has been historically prevalent in the U.K.”
