Accenture’s Tech Talent Tracker shows job listings are well behind pre-pandemic levels, but demand for emerging technologies is fuelling jobs recovery.
DEMAND for tech professionals in Scotland increased by 25% in six months – far exceeding the pace of the 10% rise seen in the rest of the UK – according to the latest UK Tech Talent Tracker from Accenture. It is the first time the tech job market has grown since the pandemic.
Edinburgh saw the biggest growth of all U.K. cities, with open roles growing by more than half (51%), followed by Bristol (48%) and then Glasgow (at 33%).
The tracker, which analysed LinkedIn’s Professional Network data, recorded over 93,000 tech jobs openings across the UK in July 2021, up from 85,000 in January. However, tech job listings are still well below pre-pandemic levels and are 76% lower than 2019.
Despite the significant decline, demand for skills in emerging technology is now driving regrowth in the tech job market. In Scotland, demand is driven principally by job openings for AI (up 84%), Blockchain (up 125%) and Cloud (up 44%). As organisations focus on governance and respond to data privacy regulations, jobs in digital ethics and responsibility also shown a significant increase with the Scottish data demonstrating a 74% rise in demand for governance roles compared to a 27% average across the UK.
Michelle Hawkins, managing director for Accenture, Scotland, said: “As Scotland continues to focus its economic recovery on the development and implementation of digital technology, these latest figures are very encouraging. There is huge opportunity to meet new business needs post pandemic through investment in technology roles and the figures suggest Scottish companies are rising to the challenge.
“Coupled with this is the increasing recognition of data responsibility and digital ethics as an area of expertise to be nurtured, developed and applied. As we look forward to COP26, and how we build business models that are more sustainable, this is an exciting and important area of growth for Scotland.”
