Demand For Software Specialists Drives Tech Salaries Significantly Higher

• In Updates
• 25 Nov 2022, 05:18 AM
• By Technologist Confidant

Due to the high demand for software engineers, starting salaries in the UK's tech industry are more than 60% more than the national average, according to research by Hackajob.

Hackajob's research also revealed that 46 per cent of workers in the industry had declined a job because they had already been given a position elsewhere, highlighting the competitive nature of the technical labour market. According to the report, 16 per cent of applicants turned down job offers because the pay was insufficient, and the industry's typical beginning income was at least 64% higher than the median salary of £25,971 in 2021.

According to the inaugural annual Marketplace Monitor report from tech recruiting specialists Hackajob, employers in industries ranging from education to finance are competing for top technical expertise even while operating budgets for other business sections are being reduced. Despite concerns about the recession and hiring freezes at major tech companies like Google, exceptional software expertise is being prioritised across many industries.

The amount of digital jobs being produced across sectors has significantly increased in the UK, one of the world's most "recognised and thriving" technological centres. Since the national tech landscape began its path toward a $1 trillion valuation, which was achieved earlier this year, the number of computer programming employees has doubled from 209,000 to 418,000 over the past ten years.

Salary range

The average tech salary in the UK is $64,315 (£46,275), which puts it slightly ahead of the Netherlands ($64,045) and Germany ($58,503) as the top three tech pay countries in Europe, according to research by developer recruiting portal CodinGame. Developer salaries in the UK are nearly one-quarter (23 per cent) more than the average tech compensation in France ($52,052) and more than twice as high as the pay in Ukraine ($28,184). Additionally, the US continues to offer the highest salaries in the world for tech expertise, with developers earning an average of $83,082.

Conversely, with an average pay of $20,750, developers in India, the tech region with the most significant rate of growth, are paid the least. At $21,243, wages in Brazil are only marginally higher. Furthermore, CodinGame examined typical UK salaries for several tech positions with software architects, who make an average salary of £75,000 below the CTO level (£84,360), followed by back-end engineers, who make an average salary of £51,000.

Other patterns mentioned in Hackajob's yearly report on job trends in the UK include rising salaries due to demand outstripping supply, job searchers choosing established companies over startups, and India now being the leading source for female tech talent in the UK. As long as demand continues to outpace supply, it is predicted that UK technology salaries will increase in 2023.

However, the image seems somewhat different on a global scale. According to analysts at RBC Capital Markets, the number of developer job vacancies worldwide has decreased for 23 weeks in a row, which publishes monthly statistics on software job postings.

Those who already possess the necessary competencies choose their jobs carefully. For instance, startups find it more challenging to hire employees as prospects, particularly women, to select the security of established enterprises. While UK tech companies are working harder than ever to hire a more diverse workforce, including looking beyond the country for female tech expertise, it was discovered that male tech talent is still overwhelmingly hired only in the UK. Women still demand lower salaries than men, with the top desired compensation for women being £57,000 compared to men's £65,000, highlighting that there is still a pervasive gender pay and status disparity even while wages are rising quickly across the spectrum.