The number of cyber security jobs available in the UK has more than halved in the last year, but much of the slack has been taken up by more jobs in the cloud, robotics and AI sectors, according to research from Accenture.
It said that UK technology job listings overall though declined by 57% during the past year, with fewer than 55,000 open roles advertised, according to its latest Tech Talent Tracker.
The tracker analysed LinkedIn’s Professional Network data and found that the overall decline was driven by a reduced number of job listings for data analytics and cyber security professionals, which fell 53% and 54%, respectively.
With nearly 35,000 roles advertised, cloud computing was the most in-demand technology skill in the UK over the past year. This reflects the fact that, due to the pandemic, a greater number of companies looked to cloud services to support their remote workforces and transform their businesses, said Accenture. In addition, job postings for AI skills have seen a resurgence, jumping 73% in six months, to approximately 6,800. Robotics roles are also up by almost two-thirds, to more than 3,000, with demand for blockchain and quantum computing skills jumping 50% and 46%, respectively.
“While the pandemic has taken a toll on the UK’s overall technology jobs market, certain tech skills still remain in great demand,” said Shaheen Sayed, Accenture’s technology lead for the UK and Ireland.
"Businesses have been accelerating their cloud migrations quicker than anyone could have imagined and digitising business processes to make the most of technology."
Separately, the latest Accenture/IHS Markit UK Business Outlook shows hiring intentions are expected to rise, with around four-in-ten UK businesses looking to bring onboard more staff over the next year.
