Demand for technology professionals across the United Kingdom experienced a bounce back in Q3, with more than 166,000 job postings from employers, according to an analysis by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the global technology industry.
Job postings for core technology occupations totaled 166,603 for the quarter, CompTIA’s examination of data from Burning Glass Technologies Labour Insights shows. The third quarter total was 33 percent higher than the second quarter, when the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting staffing changes implemented by many firms led to a sharp decline in technology job postings.
Though not immune from the effects of the pandemic, demand for technology workers in the UK has held up for much of 2020. The number of third quarter job postings was just one percent lower than the total for third quarter 2019, compared to a 19 percent decrease in all job ads. IT positions accounted for 11 percent of all job postings in third quarter.
CompTIA vice president, skills certification Graham Hunter said: “Even with the difficult decisions organisations were forced to make over the spring and summer, many did all they could to maintain the tech teams that support remote workers, secure data and e-commerce sites and maintain the digital links to customers and partners.”
The data shows that interest in hiring technology workers is present in several industries, including information and communication, professional, scientific, and technical, manufacturing, finance and insurance and human health and social work.
CompTIA Amy Carrado, senior director, research and market intelligence said: “While each of these industries may use technology in different ways, there are commonalities in the type of workers they are looking for.”
Programmers and software developers were the most sought-after positions employers sought to hire last quarter, with 67,161 job postings. Other in-demand positions included:
· IT business analysts, architects, and systems designers (25,092)
· IT user support technicians (16,032)
· Web design and development professionals (15,836)
· IT and telecommunications professionals (15,077)
· IT operations technicians (12,948)
“The number of open positions that offer remote work or work from home options continues to trend upward, with more than 42,000 in Q3, or one in four postings”, Carrado added.
Job posting data should not be viewed as a forecast of future hiring since every posting does not result in a new hire. Rather, it is an indicator of where companies are headed with their technology investments and deployments.
The CompTIA UK IT Employment Snapshot for Q3 is available here
